Keen canoeist, Ian Blackwell, hopes the amount of rubbish he has collected in and around the River Dart over the past three years will encourage people to take more care with their litter.

He said: “I go out about once a month between April and September to collect rubbish floating in the Dart or discarded on the riverbank between the bridge and Totnes Weir.

“Over the past three years I have monitored the rubbish I have collected on fourteen trips on my canoe. I have found 207 items of litter, which is an average of about 15 items each time. #

“Not surprisingly just over a quarter of items are plastic bottles, then it’s aluminium cans, such as beer, cider and coke cans. The third commonest item did surprise me as it’s dog balls.

“I take everything home and recycle it. I think some of the rubbish ends up in the river by accident, because of an overflowing bin perhaps, but some is deliberately left, which is a great shame.”

He added: “Perhaps hearing about the amount of rubbish one person has collected, people might be more careful to ensure their litter is disposed of or recycled so it does not end up in one the region’s most beautiful rivers.”