A fisherman took these shocking photographs of rubbish polluting part of the River Soar at a country park.
They show bottles, plastic bags, cans, crisp packets, fast food containers and other junk littering the water and banks at the beauty spot.
Litter louts upstream in Leicester are blamed for creating much of the problem in an area of Watermead Country Park, near Thurmaston.
The pictures were taken by villager Terry Sutton, of Nursery Close.
"I've been fishing in this spot for the past 40 years," said the 73-year-old.
"It's an ongoing problem, but this is the worst I've seen in recent times."
The area is popular with fisherman and picnickers.
"It's a favourite spot for people like me and others who like to explore the park away from the main footpaths and cycle-ways," said Mr Sutton.
"But it's in a disgusting state and is almost impossible to fish – you're fishing old boots, bin liners full of rotting food, just about everything but fish!"
He believes the concentration of rubbish is partly due to the location, between a lock and a weir.
"I think the litter chucked into the canal and river ends up collecting in the lock," he said.
"This builds up and every now and then floods out. It's then diverted into this little back water by a boom to stop boats going over the weir.
"It all comes down from Leicester.
"You can tell it's not just litter but fly-tipping.
"There's bags of stuff floating in the water.
"It's supposed to be part of a wildlife park for everyone to enjoy, but it just looks awful."
The Canal and River Trust is responsible for dealing with litter and pollution on the stretch of river affected.
However, it is assisted by Leicestershire County Council and Leicester City Council, which manage parts of Watermead Park within their respective boundaries.
Charnwood Borough Council also takes a keen interest in monitoring fly-tipping.
Mr Sutton said: "Park rangers patrol the area, but I haven't seen many at this spot.
"This rubbish has accumulated over quite some time. I think it needs better monitoring and clearing regularly before it gets to the state it's in now."
A county council spokesman said: "We will work with the Canal and River Trust to see how this issue can be resolved.
"We are happy to offer whatever assistance we can."
A city council spokesman said: "A number of factors can lead to litter being washed into waterways, including people dropping rubbish where it can enter gulleys or drains, or flooding washing litter into rivers.
"We do carry out a lot of work to tackle these problems along the riverbanks and waterways within the city, including litter picks and clean-up events, as well as running the city council Green LifeBoat Project which involves working with volunteers to clean the rivers.
"Our city wardens service also tackles litter being dropped in the streets and public spaces to prevent it making its way into rivers and streams in the first place."
A spokeswoman for Charnwood Borough Council said: "We take great pride in keeping the borough clean and tidy."
No-one at the Canal and River Trust was available to comment.