The precious River Stour is a jewel in the crown of the east Kent countryside, offering a haven for wildlife and peaceful recreation for residents.

But a nature charity has revealed it is being treated like a vast rubbish dump, with everything from shopping trolleys to traffic cones - and even a kitchen sink - being thrown into the water.

It follows a series of river cleans organised by the Kentish Stour Countryside Partnership which, in the past year, has removed thousands of bottles, cans, cigarette butts, food wrappings, plastic bags, clothing and face masks.

The mountain of waste has filled almost 270 bags.

Also fished out of the river were 48 traffic cones, 18 shopping trolleys and 13 bikes.

The charity says the abuse is taking a terrible toll on wildlife, and is urging people to act more responsibly.

"We have found dead fish in shopping trolleys where they have got caught in the mesh, eels trapped in glass bottles, small mammals which have died in bottles, ducks with plastic drinks hoops around their beaks and swans which have swallowed fishing hooks," said KSCP Stour officer Lauren Baker.

"It is so depressing to see the river being treated as a bin, particularly when in many cases rubbish bins are located close by.

"But we are grateful for all of the support and time volunteers donate to help us clean up other people’s mess."

Lauren co-ordinates the charity's Our Stour project with the support of dozens of volunteers.

Just last week, a team of 10 tackled a 450-metre stretch of waterway and river bank between Kingsmead and Sainsbury's in Canterbury, which resulted in 20 bags of rubbish, a shopping trolley, sleeping bags, rolls of carpet and even a kitchen sink being removed.

"Now the phrase 'everything but the kitchen sink' sadly doesn’t even apply," sighed Lauren.

In the past year, volunteers have given 292 hours to help keep the Stour clean.

Lauren added: "Two of the main motivations for myself and volunteers on these river clean-ups are to remove the litter so that it's not an eyesore but also to take out items which can harm and, in some cases, kill wildlife.

"We are very grateful to all those who give up their time to help us look after the Stour and protect this precious chalk river."

Lauren is continuing to press for a bottle deposit return scheme to be set up, saying it could prevent up to 10,000 items being discarded into the river.

The government manifesto in 2019 promised such a scheme, in which a surcharge would be added to a drink bottle when purchased, and refunded if that bottle is later returned.

But the pandemic interrupted the consultation.

A second consultation is now underway, but the document reveals it could be 2024 before any scheme becomes active.

Sian Pettman, from the Friends of Kingsmead Field group, which regularly carries out its own river cleans, says the treatment of the Stour "never fails to disgust me".

"We abuse it from every angle," she said.

"Beneath the rippled surface, the river bed is all too often riddled with rubbish, and the deceptively clear water is contaminated by pollutants.

"We abstract large quantities of groundwater for domestic and industrial use, substantially reducing the flow of water in the river.

"We build on the floodplains and prevent the river from pursuing its natural course.

"We pump thousands of gallons of sewage and foul water into the river each year, often untreated.

"We allow road run-off, contaminated by oil spills and the toxins from the tyres of cars, buses and lorries, to drain straight into it.

"We permit agricultural slurry, full of pesticides and herbicides, to seep into the river unobserved.

"Groups of youths that catapult the wildlife on the river often go unchecked.

"And if all that is not bad enough, we throw thousands of tons of plastic, metal, glass and other rubbish into the river each year.

"Beneath the rippled surface, the river bed is all too often riddled with rubbish..."

"It’s hard to believe that the River Stour is one of only 215 chalk streams in the world, making it a globally rare ecosystem and a unique habitat for wildlife and plants, and yet we treat it so appallingly. I despair."

Just last week, Mrs Pettman and fellow group member Beverley Paton pulled out a pile of rubbish from the small branch of the river that runs alongside Kingsmead Field.

Among the detritus was 15 large sheets of plastic, 10 plastic bottles, nine glass bottles, 14 cans, a plastic umbrella stand, a piece of MDF and several sharp, rusty objects.

She added: "What is particularly depressing is that we had cleaned the same stretch of river a couple of weeks previously, so this rubbish was all new."

England's 'most historic river'

The River Stour that flows through Canterbury could lay claim to England’s most historic river, says the Kentish Stour Countryside Project.

Certainly in Roman and medieval times, the river was a major transport route, connecting Canterbury with mainland Europe. Fordwich, on the edge of the city, was an important port.

The river also played a key role in the spread of Christianity.

The name Stour has existed since 686 AD, suggesting the name which the river now bears was probably given by the Saxons, who called at least three English rivers by that name.

As east Kent’s major watercourse, the Kentish Stour originates as the Great Stour in Lenham, north west of Ashford. The river is the second longest in Kent after the Medway, with a total length of about 57 miles.

After flowing through Canterbury, the river becomes tidal and finally enters the sea at Pegwell Bay, close to the site of the landing of the first Christian mission to southern England, St Augustine, in 597 AD.

The Stour flows through Canterbury in many strands – at one point there are three separate branches. These branches are sometimes linked by channels effectively forming islands. The branches rejoin to the east of Canterbury, before the river reaches Fordwich.

Canterbury has grown up because of the Great Stour - many of its industries, and therefore its wealth, have depended upon it, and now by taking a stroll along the river you can see a rich mix of heritage and wildlife, right through the city’s heart.

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