A HORRIFIED watersports instructor has discovered a river of rubbish while paddle-boarding near Stonehouse.
The grim discovery was made on Wednesday night on the Stroud Frome river when Fraser Withey was paddling from along the waterway from Stonehouse to nearby Saul Junction.
"After paddle-boarding the river Frome from Stonehouse to Saul Junction this is what I found there," paddle-board instructor Fraser said.
"So sad and all the more reason to litter pick upstream."
Photographs show discarded plastic, empty bottles and other rubbish clogging the route on the pretty rural stream.
Stroud Frome meanders from near Birdlip through Sapperton, then west to Brimscombe where it turns northwest towards Stroud.
The river flows through Stroud, then through Ebley and Stonehouse where it goes under the M5 motorway, and past Saul to enter the River Severn at Upper Framilode.
It is believed that the rubbish is picked up by the current as it flows through the Stroud Valleys.
"This is the end of the Frome at Saul Junction where it filters. It’s plastic city," Fraser explained.
"This is where everyone’s litter backs up."
Recently television programme Blue Planet 2 highlighted the tremendous amount of damage plastic litter is causing to seas and rivers and aquatic wildlife.
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