Call for fast-food firms to pay for cleaning up river

Residents in Stockton have complained to British Waterways about the pollution of the river from debris such as plastic bottles and empty cartons.

However, the river authority, which is based at the Tees Barrage in Stockton, said it did not have sufficient resources to deal with the high levels of litter on the river.

Alan Slater, British Waterways river manager for the Tees, said much of the debris was empty takeaway cartons and he called for high street fast-food companies to contribute towards its removal.

Mr Slater said: "These fast-food chains bear some responsibility for the state of the river.

"I would like to see a campaign that targets the big chains, because they really are a menace.

"Residents are right to be concerned about levels of debris which build up further down-river. It makes the Tees look ugly and causes pollution."

As a result of these build-ups, Mr Slater said the banks of the river near Victoria Bridge, in Stockton, had become infested with rats.

He said that although British Waterways occasionally carried out clean-up operations, it lacked resources, and it was not its responsibility to "litter-pick the river".

He said: "We remove between 500 and 1,000 tonnes of floating debris from the river a year but, even so, the Tees has 100 miles of tributaries up-river from Stockton. There's no way we can deal with all the debris that comes down-river from those."

Stockton resident Peter Moon was so appalled, recently, that he took photos of the floating litter that had amassed in St Mark's Basin, a cul-de-sac close to the Castlegate Quay in the town.

Mr Moon said he had contacted British Waterways, Stockton Borough Council, Northumbrian Water and the Environment Agency. All, he said, denied they were responsible for cleaning the river.

Mr Moon, from Hartburn, said: "If the water was a street or a square, even the local authority would be ashamed to allow such a condition to continue indefinitely."