Teams work to contain river weed

So far it has taken three years to clear half the plants from the river

Volunteers are being enlisted to tackle a weed which is taking over rivers in Leicestershire and Rutland.

Floating Pennywort grows quickly and densely and can cause obstructions for boats and fishing.

British Waterways, the Environment Agency and Leicester City Council are joining forces to clear the weeds from the River Soar.

It was brought into the UK from the United States as a pond plant in the 1980s but escaped into the waterways.

So far it has taken three years to clear half the plants and since April last year 6,000 tonnes of it have been removed.

'Slow job'

Adrian Lane of Leicester City Council said: "Since we found it, within four years it's now spread the whole length of the Soar.

"One single little leaf can, by the end of the summer, grow into 20 tonnes."

"The only way to deal with it now is to get people in with hands to pick every last piece.

"It's a very slow job but it's got to be done or else we're going to lose the whole of the river."

Vince Moran of British Waterways added: "We estimate that on the River Soar alone it's going to cost us £50,000 this year just to deal with this Floating Pennywort, and that will be every year."

Jeff Dolby of the Environment Agency appealed for the public's help in tracking the plant.

He said: "What we don't want it to do is spread further downstream into the River Trent, so if people see it they can report it to us."

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6, 000 tonnes have been removed from the River Soar since last April.