In Response to the story titled "Concerned about the River Leen" by Mr. Binch:

Hello Mr Binch, thank you for your message and thank you for caring about the river. The Environment Agency has powers to maintain the river Leen, but as you point out the amount of material that regularly finds its way to the river makes this a very difficult task. Using the funds we have available we have to focus upon the maximum risk this debris could cause, such as blocking bridges and culverts and ensuring these are clear. We have just posted an article that you may find of interest about the Leen Syphon near the QMC.

All landowners also have a responsibility to keep the river clear of debris as well and responsible organisations like the City Council ensure that their bridges and culvert crossings of the rivers are well maintained.

Part of work is looking at how we address this issue as we feel the same way that the river should be appreciated for its wildlife and not be a dumping ground for bikes and trolleys, etc. We have approached operators that hire bikes out and we are increasing our coverage of awareness raising and talking to students at schools about the importance of caring for their local environment. We are also involved in exercises to raise awareness around plastics in the water environment and have community events to remove plastic items from the rivers.

Thank you for raising this issue and it is one we think is important too, and one that we are working upon to certainly reduce, but hopefully eliminate in the future.

If you would like to discuss this further please contact me at ray.gallagher@environment-agency.gov.uk .