A “very sad” image of a duckling sleeping on a pile of litter in a river has been shared on social media.

The picture shows the birds living alongside plastic bags and empty vodka bottles on the Stour in Canterbury.

Shared alongside the caption, “Canterbury, can we really not do better than this?”, the image prompted emotional responses from people online.

The person who posted the image on Reddit told KentOnline: “I took the picture because I thought it was very sad that animals are now adapting to the pollution we leave behind.”

Taken on Monday, the pictured ducks are on the Great Stour where the flow converges near Pound Lane.

It comes amid growing concerns over pollution in Kent’s rivers and along the coast.

The Stour has sadly grown a reputation as a fly-tipping hotspot, with everything from shopping trolleys to traffic cones – and even a kitchen sink – being thrown into the water.

In 2021, the Kentish Stour Countryside Partnership which has removed thousands of bottles, cans, cigarette butts, food wrappings, plastic bags, clothing and face masks. The mountain of waste filled almost 270 bags.