THE shameful discovery of bags of dog faeces in the River Kent (Gazette, May 17, 'River polluted by dog dirt') should serve as a warning to our community about how complacent we are when it comes to our natural environment.

I live on the lower Kent estuary and during the winter flood season our field is regularly submerged as the river bursts its banks. Once the water recedes, a large quantity of litter is left behind and these items are always either crisp packets, beer and energy drink cans and plenty of dog mess bags.

Our last flood was on November 22 and we are still picking up these items on a daily basis. This, however, is only a small fraction of the waste that eventually flows into the sea.

The communities of Staveley, Burneside and Kendal need to recognise the root cause of this problem and coordinated action is required in the form of education and appropriate use of the law, to prevent Morecambe Bay from becoming the rubbish dump for south Cumbria.

Richard Bagot

Levens Hall