Harlow Council bemoans massive build-up of plastic river waste

Harlow Council's departing leader Russell Perrin said "put it in a bin, it's not that difficult"

People are being urged not to dump rubbish in a town's rivers and streams after a "heart wrenching" increase in plastic waste on a farmland in Essex.

Harlow Council said piles of plastic bottles and dog waste had spilled on to the fields - where cattle graze - neighbouring Canons Brook golf course.

The brook has burst it banks several times in recent years.

Nicky Purse, the council's portfolio holder for the environment, said the pollution was "massive".

'Beyond me'

The Conservative councillor said: "After spending time with the family who have lived and worked on the farm for almost 100 years, it has been heart-wrenching to hear how the pollution is putting their life's work and their cattle in peril."

Her Tory colleague Russell Perrin, the departing council leader, said there was a risk diseases spread by dog faeces, such as neosporosis and sarcocystosis, could affect the cows.

"Why anyone would go through the effort to pick up dog poo in a plastic bag only to throw it in a river is beyond me," he said.

"Put it in a bin, it's not that difficult."

A spokesperson for the local authority said two workers from its maintenance company had spent time during the course of four days trying to clear the rubbish.