Shocking images show how part of the river looks ‘like a Third World country’ after being ‘supported’ by rubbish following floods. Following widespread flooding caused by Storm Henk in Leicester, large parts of the River Soar are now filled with domestic and industrial waste. Hundreds of thousands of pieces of trash appear to have drifted along the riverbank and become lodged in trees over an area stretching for more than a mile. A university academic who researches plastic pollution in the environment has said he has never seen anything like it in the UK. Professor Sarah Gabbott, from the University of Leicester, said the scenes even reminded her of parts of Africa she had visited as part of her research. He has now warned people who dump flies and litter in the area that their actions are having a ‘devastating’ impact and killing wildlife. He said: “I’ve never seen anything like this in the UK before. In some of the developing countries I’ve visited in my research, such as Africa, these scenes wouldn’t be out of place. “I’ve been to Nairobi in Kenya and Malawi and I’ve seen similar scenes like this I have witnessed the sights and we have much better waste management systems. “It’s truly incredible. I couldn’t believe my eyes when it appeared. “The river is surrounded by plastic bags and materials of different colors and types. “It almost looks like there was a landfill pushed into the River Soar. “This is a horrific snapshot of what lies beneath the river, which we don’t usually see.” Prof Gabbot said the filth was left behind as floods brought rubbish already in the river to the surface. Aluminum in the wake of Storm Henk He said he had also seen kitchen units, fire extinguishers, car bumpers, tricycles, barbecues, mattresses and sofas, as well as boxes and plastic bottles. He believes much of the problem was caused by people dumping rubbish into a stream upriver, with little care for the environment. Same Prof Gabbott, who was also a volunteer with the Green Circle Nature Regeneration CIC, added that rubbish thrown on the streets was also washed into the river due to the rain. He said: “We had incredible floods and the waters rose, overtook the banks and all the rubbish in the river was washed into the floodplain. It ran aground as we can see it now. “There is a stream nearby that has a fly-tipping problem – we see large amounts of industrial and domestic waste dumped here,” as if our dirty rubbish had been hung out to dry and we’ve all witnessed it. discarded textile items and labels – fire extinguishers, kitchen units, tricycles, barbecues, televisions, mattresses, sofas, basically everything. “There’s a huge garbage dump in Nairobi, the largest in Africa, and there’s garbage pouring into the rivers from the slums and there are obstructions all over the trees. It reminded me of that. “When we go out on the river, we use sonar to look under the water, and there’s so much of it where you can’t see the river bed. There are dense aluminum cans that. “It’s the same along the riverside, where you can’t walk without constantly crunching cans. “It’s generally a nice place and people come here for food and drink but they throw away their rubbish. “It’s also killing wildlife. There are otters in the river and we recently had to rescue a swan that was drowning with a fishing line around its neck. “We want to educate people about the impact this is having. With the focus on the oceans, our freshwater is often overlooked. “But the knock-on effect of rubbish dumped into this stream causes rubbish to flow into the River Soar, the River Trent and then into the North Sea. “We focus on BAME communities and deprived areas to re-educate children. damage caused by this. We have a terrible garbage problem here. “We take the kids out on the river on a boat, teaching them about the river, how the river works, nature, the environment and how important it is. “Hopefully they’ll talk to their friends and family and stop this. Again, there is some kind of garbage dumping going on. “There’s a lot of fishing line from fabrics and sculptures of Indian origin that are made for prayers and then thrown into the river. “But it’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure we stop destroying our beautiful rivers. What we really need is to stop this from happening in the first place.” Local resident Chris Haughton, 34, from Leicester, who regularly walks his dog along the riverside, said: “This is absolutely terrible. It’s like a garbage island in places. “It looks like something coming from a Third World country, not the UK. I knew we had a problem here but this puts it out there for all to see. It really embarrass you.” Chris Desai, founder of Leicester environmental charity UOcean, which cleans up waterways, told the BBC: “We see this kind of pollution every day. When I saw it I said ‘That’s the River Soar and that’s why we’re doing this’ but it was such a shock beyond belief for the public to see it.” A Leicester City Council spokesman said: “Clearing rubbish from waterways is a constant challenge and the problem becomes worse following periods of floods when waste accumulates as water dwindles.” Littering and fly-throwing are illegal but unfortunately this means some people are polluting the environment, harming wildlife. It does not prevent it from causing damage and creating an eyesore by discharging its waste into the water. “As soon as conditions on the water improve, we will take our boat and volunteers out to begin tackling the worst affected areas.”