Plastic pollution affects mere as birds use rubbish for nest

With plastic pollution in our oceans currently a hot topic, it is also affecting wildlife a little closer to home.

A pair of coots have built their nest on the edge of Diss Mere which includes a Cornish pasty wrapper, plastic and some cardboard.

They appear to have raised three young ones from the nest.

'You would think it was a disused nest by the look of it,' said Celia Bradley, who along with her friend Gail Scott, noticed the rubbish in the nest as they enjoyed a drink at the Diss Publishing Bookshop.

'After seeing that whale [which died in Thailand with 80 plastic bags found in its stomach], even things in local ponds and meres are being affected, it is not just the ocean, it is everywhere.

'The big coot keeps pecking at the plastic. You don't know if they are going to get tangled up in it.'

A prized and much-loved asset of the town, there are plenty of rubbish bins on the Mere's walkway.