A FATHER, mother and their young daughters were so horrified by the rubbish they found in stream running through Petersfield they have appealed to the town council to help keep it clean.

On Bank Holiday Monday, Rob Hutchings, his wife Raquel and daughters Alia aged nine, and Olivia, aged six, cleared litter from Tilmore Brook behind their garden in Bepton Down, off Moggs Mead.

In just 40 minutes they collected about 15 bags of dogs’ waste, seven plastic carrier bags, seven plastic pint mugs, a jumper, a pair of trousers,

cabling, about ten broken glass bottles, a tap and six plastic bottles.

Rob said: “This was just from one part of the brook so it’s probably safe to assume the whole brook and connecting river Rother are in no better a condition.

“This is clearly not good for the environment. It’s a health hazard and puts a blight on this part of the town.

“There is a distinct lack of waste bins along the path which make it all too easy for the inconsiderate few to just dispose of waste as they see fit, and a lack of signage reminding people of the laws.

“It is actually worse for the environment that people bag dogs’ waste and throw it away as litter rather than just leave the dogs’ waste.

“That will bio-degrade eventually, but a lot of plastic dog-mess bags don’t.

“I think an effort to publicly raise awareness of this and increase the number of bins available would benefit the environment and us all.

“I have written to Petersfield Town Council and I am hopeful of a positive response, but feel we all need to be more aware of this local problem and to take a bit more responsibility for our town.”