KAYAKERS have described their trip down the River Tavy as ‘heartbreaking’ after coming into contact with scores of disgarded plastic bags.

Four friends embarked on a four-mile journey along the scenic river only to find plastic pollution everywhere they looked.

They had planned to enjoy the wilderness of the river along to Denham Bridge and found that on the day the river was low and not fast flowing, which meant they could gently paddle their way along the stretch of river.

But what they found on their journey was a river covered in plastic bags that were caught on barbed wire or under rocks.

‘Within the first 500m I noticed a plastic bag and decided to pick it up,’ said kayaker Mark Russell from East Cornwall.

‘As the river was low we could see more and more plastic bags as we went on and then we were just inundated with them.’

‘With four of us collecting them along the river we managed to fill an agri-feed bag full of plastic bags — and we only got half of them.

‘These plastic bags are destroying our river and it’s a beautiful stretch of river so to have it littered with bags is heartbreaking.

‘When you are on the river you immerse yourself in nature but to then have it covered in plastic bags is so sad. Some of the bags were caught on barbed wire and others trapped on rocks under the flow of the river.

‘Just imagine what these are doing to the wildlife.’

He added that two-thirds of the bags were from one particular supermarket chain and urged local supermarkets to follow in the footsteps of Morrisons’ which issues paper bags.

Dr Laurence Couldrick, chief executive officer at Westcountry Rivers Trust based in Stoke Climsland, said: ‘Plastics have a huge impact on the wildlife in our rivers, estuaries and beaches. Most of the plastics that are washed up on our beaches are transported through our river systems; it is vital that we work across the whole catchment to curb this form of pollution.

‘Alongside the plastic we can see with our eyes, these bigger bits of plastic break down over time into micro-plastics that present an increasing problem as they are swallowed by animals and do not pass through the digestive system.

‘In an attempt to deal with this we are part of a new Preventing Plastic Pollution project funded through the Interreg France (Channel) England programme, that is looking at the flow of plastics in the River Tamar, including the River Tavy, and are keen to work with local communities and groups across the area to reduce plastic pollution in all its forms.’