A historic dock in Merseyside has been left in a "horrendous" state
Part of the Birkenhead docks in Wirral, just off the Duke Street bridge, has been left in a "horrendous" state as massive amounts of litter gathered on the water last weekend. One man, who used to fish on the dock, said that the state of the rubbish was so bad that he was seriously concerned for the welfare of the animals he sees there daily.
Photos seen by the ECHO revealed the extent of the rubbish. Dozens of plastic and glass bottles, wood scrap, builders' scrap bags and takeaway containers can be seen floating on the water, alongside natural things like seaweed.
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Damien Owens, 51, a keen fisherman originally from Birkenhead, told the ECHO that wildlife, such as fish and sea birds, which use the dock to feed and live could be "seriously threatened" by the mess.
He said: "'I'm 51 now and I've been fishing down there since I was a teenager. It's a dock, it's always been industrial and it's not always been the cleanest of places but it's never been as bad as that.
"It's horrendous. A couple of days earlier it was clear.
"There's loads of different species of fish in there now where all that rubbish is. Only a couple of weeks ago I was sitting there and saw a couple of kingfishers using the same steps to dive in and catch fish.
"There's a couple of Canada geese in there, there's obviously the seagulls, Kingfishers, and loads of ducks and things.
"Then there's obviously the marine life beneath the trash, there's lobsters, octopus, there's all sorts of wonderful creatures in there that are all going to be seriously threatened.
"Fish will swim into the trash and die in there, there's also diving birds in there that will get tangled in loads of rubbish."
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