1,100 items of litter in Leighton Buzzard waterways– now that’s just rubbish

Central Bedfordshire Council’s contractors, in partnership with Leighton-Linslade Town Council as part of the Ouzel Valley Park Steering Group, have been fishing out litter and flytipping from the water during August.

South Bedfordshire Friends of the Earth catalogued the 1,114 items removed from a just over a mile of the Clipstone Brook from Hydrus Drive to Woodman Close, and two-third of a mile of the Ouzel in the centre of town.

The data is being fed into a project aimed at preventing plastic pollution being co-ordinated by the Rivers Trust. More information on this project can be found at https://theriverstrust.org/our-work/our-projects/preventing-plastic-pollution-ppp.

Plastic in our rivers can harm wildlife which gets trapped in it or eats it. It also washes downstream and out into the Ouse and the North Sea, breaking down slowly into smaller microplastics. It can wash up on beaches or be eaten by fish and other animals there or along the way and enter our food chain.

713 items were plastic, including 179 plastic drinks bottles and 319 plastic food containers, packets and wrappers, with very large numbers of crisp packets and sweet wrappers found on the Clipstone Brook in particular. There were also 104 drinks cans - many of these were also found on the Clipstone Brook.

There were also some large items including three shopping trolleys, a stolen motorcycle, a child’s bike and a large TV. Items used in construction were found on the Clipstone Brook, and clothing in the Ouzel.

Gill King from South Bedfordshire Friends of the Earth said: “When you throw something into a river or brook, you may think you have got rid of it but it doesn’t go away. It hangs around in the environment for decades. This is a good example of partnership working between Central Bedfordshire Council, their contractors and two voluntary organisations to tackle one of the most important environmental challenges of our times”.

Councillor Tracey Stock, Executive Member for Health and Wellbeing and Communities at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “Getting out and about in our countryside, enjoying what Central Bedfordshire has to offer, is great for our health and wellbeing. It’s really disappointing to see this irresponsible fly-tipping and littering which has seriously damaged habitats and the pleasantness of the area, and that’s why this clean-up work is necessary to prevent further harm to the environment.

"Over 30 hours was spent cleaning up the river, and 19 bags of rubbish were pulled out, everything from litter, a motorcycle and even clothes. The area looks so much better now, and hopefully it will stay looking nice, and people will think twice before fly-tipping or littering here in future. We just want people to take their litter home with them after experiencing our beautiful areas.”

Cllr Victoria Harvey who attended the two events said: “ The river and its wildlife is so important to residents in Leighton Buzzard. Plastic pollution is disastrous for wildlife and I am very grateful to all the local volunteers of South Beds Friends of the Earth for their work in looking after our river and wider environment.”