A man who regularly litter picks in and around a Cumbrian river has said he has never seen so many bottles and vapes as he has this weekend.

Simon Raven, 63, from Endmoor, has a love of the outdoors and is a keen cyclist and canoeist.

Now retired after working at Heysham power station, one of his worse pet peeves is rubbish which he said he used to see a lot of on his trips into Kendal town centre.

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He took it upon himself to clear up in and around the River Kent  - and not just of every day rubbish.

Simon has dredged out all sorts of items such as fridges, hoovers, laptops, buggies and road signs.

This time last year he discovered his 125th bike in two years at the bottom of the river.

A child's scooter was also found (Image: Simon Raven) This weekend however Simon had a strong reaction to the sheer amount of litter he saw in one area of the river.

"A quick clean up of the river turned into a bit of an ordeal," he said.

"Blind Beck was in a terrible state. I've never picked up so many vodka bottles, beer bottles, beer cans and vapes in one small area before.

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"It's obvious that a group had gathered there and been drinking and just discarded whatever they'd used.

"As I was going around, I stopped to chat to a couple who agreed that they had never seen it this bad."

Simon tends to stick to Stramongate Bridge and Nether Bridge and made his way around the rest of the river where he found a number of other items.

These included an umbrella, a paint tin, three used aerosol cans of tyre shine, a plastic road barrier, a road sign and a kids scooter.

(Image: Simon Raven) He added: "It's just really disgusting and disrespectful. I often find rubbish within a few feet of a bin and this was the same.

"And vapes, whoever invented vapes needs to go to hell - such environmentally toxic things.

"In all I'd day I was out for around three hours and I could barely carry what I'd collected.

"If anyone feels that they want to do a bit of litter picking then go along to the Waste Management depot, near the recycling centre, tell them that you want to help out.

"They have limited resources but ask what equipment can be made available or contact Kendal Town Centre - lots of individual actions can make a big difference."