Leicester: Volunteers tackle washed-up Storm Henk litter in boat

Volunteers used a narrowboat to access hard-to-reach areas

A group of litter pickers have used a narrowboat to reach rubbish washed up by the River Soar during Storm Henk.

The volunteers cleared litter which was carried towards the Belgrave Locks area of Leicester during the storm in January.

The city was hit by flooding and high water levels during the storm, which brought torrential rain to the county.

Experienced litter picker Steve Joyce said rubbish along the river "has never been this bad".

Much of Leicestershire experienced flooding during Storm Henk, with areas of Leicester and Loughborough worst hit.

In a bid to clean up after the flooding, volunteers organised by Leicester City Council used a boat owned by the authority to reach rubbish washed up by the swollen River Soar.

High water levels deposited rubbish on trees and bushes which line the River Soar

Alan Jelfs, environmental ranger with the council, said: "Using the boat is the only way we can get the litter safely because otherwise we have people going too close to the water.

"We can get a lot of litter from land with the extended tools we've got.

"Our aim is to try and pull litter that would not be accessible by any other means."

Experienced litter picker, Mr Joyce, said: "I've lived in Leicester for 40 years and the water levels have never been this high.

"What we are doing is, we're not just taking the rubbish away, we're cutting the vegetation back so that next time it won't get stuck in the branches, it'll carry on down to the lock and we can collect it there."