Hooligans are being blamed for dumping 11 shopping trolleys, an office chair, road closure barriers and bollards in the River Biss through Trowbridge.

Now Trowbridge Town Council, the Canal & River Trust and various landowners are being urged to clean up the river after the rubbish has begun to create blockages for other debris.

The call comes two years after the Trowbridge Environmental Community volunteers helped Wiltshire Wildlife Trust to clean up the waterway through the town.

Wiltshire Times: Road closure barriers are among the items thrown in the river. Photo: Trevor Porter70268-4Road closure barriers are among the items thrown in the river. Photo: Trevor Porter70268-4 (Image: Trevor Porter)

Alan Richardson, from Trowbridge, said: “I’d like someone in authority to act upon the state of the River Biss.

“There are very many stretches of the Biss that are truly lovely, but at the weir on the Town Bridge, there is a long-dumped office chair below the surface that seems to be forming a reef, at least two monstrous bollards (last month there was only one) and an Asda trolley further downstream.

“Upriver, as seen from the bridge on Castle Street, there are two Asda trolleys and a scattering of bollards. The latter have been there so long that they’ve probably become sentient and are now breeding.

Wiltshire Times: Road closure barriers are among the items thrown in the river. Photo: Trevor Porter70268-5Road closure barriers are among the items thrown in the river. Photo: Trevor Porter70268-5 (Image: Trevor Porter)

“I’ve contacted several departments about this over several months but no-one takes responsibility for this type of rubbish.

“Could Asda not be persuaded to fund someone to retrieve their property, and the highways department do similar to retrieve their bollards?"

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The River Biss was last cleared in 2021 as part of a five-year initiative called a Better Biss Approach funded by Wessex Water.

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Trowbridge Eco Community group volunteers waded into the water on several Saturdays.

During the summer, they cleared out rubbish dumped between the Castle Street Bridge and the Town Bridge at Wicker Hill.

Alice Eley, WWT’s water team manager, said: “We can’t go into the river now because it is too deep. We will have to wait until the summer when the water levels are lower.”

The River Biss channels are due to be enhanced as part of the £16.3 million Future High Street Fund programme taking place in Trowbridge town centre.

Wiltshire Council says Trowbridge Town Council is responsible for clearing litter in the town, and has advised contacting the Canal & River Trust, which is responsible for managing 2,000 miles of canals and inland waterways.

The other owners of the river are not known.