A dog walker has said how she felt ‘overwhelmed’ by the amount of debris left by the banks of the River Tame. Carol Fletcher had been taking her dog out for a walk in Haughton Dale Nature Reserve at around 1pm on January 2 when she saw large amounts of rubbish which had been scattered around the park by the swollen River Tame.
Shocking photos show the extent of rubbish which was strewn around the beauty spot following the New Year’s Day floods. This included a huge amount of plastic bottles, bags wrapped around trees, and bits of lino and carpet.
Carol, 59, told the Manchester Evening News: “I walk my dog daily in this area. I avoided it yesterday but the dog needed walking. I was expecting mud but I was shocked with the amount of rubbish on this beauty spot.”
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While Carol said she would normally try to pick up any bits of rubbish she comes across while out, the sheer quantity was too much. She said: “I always pick up odd bits of litter and put it in my own bin. I just wanted to start picking the bottles up but my bag wasn’t big enough.”
She added: “My first thought was I’ll come back with a bin liner or two. But the scale overwhelmed me as I walked round the meadow and saw carpets, lino pieces and too many plastic bags wrapped in trees.
“The largest item was a corrugated roof made of metal as in the picture. I was stunned with the amount of litter.”
Carol said she was ‘overwhelmed’ by the quantity of rubbish -Credit:Carol Fletcher (submitted)
While the damage to natural things such as trees will decompose, plastic is something else. Carol said: “Obviously branches and natural debris will decay eventually but the amount of plastic would be there for many years or end up back in the river.”
Now Carol hopes to find some other people around the area to band together and start clearing up the debris. “I wanted to reach out to locals to see if we could help in any way as a starting point,” she said. “I love the countryside feel of this village and don’t like litter anyway so this has bothered me.”
The New Year’s Day floods saw hundreds of people evacuated across Greater Manchester. The River Tame, which runs through Haughton Dale Nature Reserve, burst its banks by Meadow Mill flooding out the car park and lower floors of the apartment complex.
Plastic bottles and bags were strewn over the nature reserve -Credit:Carol Fletcher (submitted)
Rescuers evacuated around 400 people from the stricken building. The river left the car park caked in a thick layer of mud and debris, with residents describing how they had to be ‘decontaminated’ after wading through floodwater to leave due to the risk of chemicals in the water.
A major incident was declared on New Year’s Day, which was stood down on January 2 following extensive rescue operations. Now authorities are focussing on getting people back to their homes and repairing the damage.