A large number of Krispy Kreme doughnut boxes have been found dumped in a river.

The rubbish was spotted last Friday off a path by the River Darent in Dartford.

The river runs near a Krispy Kreme processing factory in Hawley Road on the Questor Industrial Estate.

Pictures appeared on a Facebook group showing more than 20 doughnut boxes as well as a rusty shopping trolley.

The post said: “Walking down the Darent Valley path, I'm always seeing dumped Krispy Kreme packaging from their processing facility.

“Is it their staff doing this? Absolutely disgusting. I've reached out to their customer services.”

A number of commenters said children were to blame.

One person said: “It’s kids getting in there and nicking them. Seems to be a bit of a trend in the last few years.

“Think they have tried to secure it but I suppose it becomes more of a challenge.”

Another added: “They extended the fencing to try to keep the teens out but it isn’t that hard to still get around.

“They do have security patrolling now and again, but it doesn’t seem to deter much.”

A spokesman from Krispy Kreme said: “We're not aware of any recent events relating to our activities that might have caused any of our packaging to find its way into the nearby river.

‘Over the past year, we've had some security issues at this site with local youths attempting to trespass.’

“We make sure any unused or unneeded packaging at our Dartford site is disposed of in a controlled manner and removed by licensed contractors, in accordance with waste regulations.

“Over the past year, we've had some security issues at this site with local youths attempting to trespass.

“We have tightened our security as a result, but there have been some previous incidents where trespassers have been unsuccessful in their attempts to steal products, so have decided to cause damage or take other items such as unused packaging.

“It's possible some of these may have found their way into the river, so we will investigate this further.”