IT has been revealed that 20 tonnes of waste was removed from the River Stour in a clean-up prompted by a Shuttle reader’s comments on the Opinion Page.

Fallen trees, tyres, litter and rubbish was removed from the river between Kidderminster and Stourport in the joint operation by Wyre Forest District Council and Environment Agency.

About eight tonnes of the waste is being recycled with the remaining 12 tonnes heading to landfill.

Conservative councillor Marcus Hart, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “I was shocked and appalled by the amount of rubbish in the river.

“Hopefully local residents will be equally shocked and beware of destroying our district’s beautiful wildlife.

“We want to stress that everyone needs to take responsibility for their own rubbish and remind residents of the importance of taking rubbish home so clean-up jobs like this would be a thing of the past.”