AN island of rubbish which has been floating beneath Worcester's main river bridge for weeks has disrupted a major rowing regatta.

Hundreds of competitors arrived on Saturday for the Worcester Head of the River race but were disappointed to discover the course had been shortened by more than a mile because of the debris, which gathered during the recent floods.

The event is particularly important to rowers who travel from all over the country to use it as a warm-up before a similar event in London.

Worcester Rowing Club president Bob Wooding said: "It would have been nice if they had shifted the rubbish before because the river level has been down for a couple of weeks.

"It would have seemed a priority to get the bridge clear, but apparently not."

The course in Worcester is four-and-a-quarter miles long running from the camp, at Grimley, to Diglis.

The only other course of comparable length is along the river Thames in London.

At the weekend all 125 crews, made up of more than 800 competitors, were forced to finish the race after three miles because the mound of debris beneath the main road bridge meant it was unsafe to row under the arches.

Mr Wooding said: "We thought it was unsafe to race through the bridge because there was only one arch which was passable.

"People were disappointed but appreciated the reason why."

As previously reported in your Worcester News the Environment Agency has the power - but not the duty, to clear debris from the river and will only do so if it is causing a flood risk.

A spokesman for Worcestershire County Council said the Environment Agency usually takes care of these issues on its behalf. Because the debris has not moved on its own accord, the council has been in discussion with the Environ-ment Agency and British Waterways about clearing it.

Special equipment will now be drafted in on Thursday in a joint initiative between the agencies.

A council spokesman said: "Regrettably it is not possible to free the obstructions and let them float downstream because of the risk of damage to other river craft and lock mechanisms at Diglis, as well as other safety issues."

British Waterways said it had ensured that the navigation of the river Severn had been maintained "in accordance with statutory obligations on the two western arches".

  • Saturday's race was temporarily halted at 2pm after reports of a body in the river.

A police search later found a homeless person asleep on the riverbank and the event resumed.