MEMBERS of Worcestershire Greenpeace have been out planting around 500 willow stems along the bank of the River Severn in Worcester to prevent riverbanks collapsing into the water.

The volunteers have planted specialist willows, salix viminalis and dasyclados, which are fast-growing and help bind the bank together, at four points along the west bank of the Severn. The county council provided the stems at a cost of £250.

Worcestershire Greenpeace is taking action following an environmental impact study that found that speeding boats had the most significant impact on the banks.

The group says boats undermine and erode the banks, as well as devastate the plants binding the banks, which causes them to collapse, filling the river with silt.

This makes flooding worse, deoxygenates the water and also prevents light getting through the water for more plants to grow.

Peter Robinson, Worcester-shire Greenpeace co-ordinator, said: "We are carrying out immediate practical action to help stop the banks collapsing.

"We are doing this in four different areas of the riverbank, which present differing problems.

"We intend to plant specialist watermargin plants in the spring, but before that, action needs to be taken to stop speeding boats, otherwise the plants will be ripped out by the boats."

Stop the Speeding, Plant the Plants is the slogan adopted by the Worcestershire Green-peace campaigners. The speed limit on the river is 8mph downstream and 6mph upstream.

According to Mr Robinson, a small but significant number of boats cause breaking washes - the kind of waves that break like waves before they roll onto a beach - mostly through going too fast and breaking the speed limit.

This, over time, has devastated the natural vegetation that binds the banks tightly.

He said: "We have been working with British Waterways to produce a leaflet that encourages boat owners to slow down."