Worksop boy aged 7 takes on canal clean-up after seeing dead fish

Reuben Kent was out walking along the water’s edge with dad Robert when the pair saw a large eel, a bream and two roach dead on its surface.

Proud mum Emma Kent, 31, told how ‘upset’ Reuben asked to buy a litter picker so he could collect rubbish strewn around the canal - near the Lock Keeper pub.

Over an hour-and-a-half Reuben and dad Robert found beer cans, magazines, McDonald’s packaging and old clothes - filling a bin-liner.

Mum-of-three Emma said Reuben had been fishing along the canal since the age of four, adding ‘I’m really proud of him’.

She said: “For a seven-year-old to come home and ask for a litter picker so he can clean up a canal is lovely.

“He was there for an hour-and-a-half but just got on with it - then he came home again to ask if he could go the following day.”

It is not yet clear whether the fish have died as a result of water pollution however Emma says she has reported the find to the council.

She said: “It’s quite worrying that there are dead fish in the water - if they’ve been killed by some sort of pollution you wonder what else might be in the water.”

Emma says caring Reuben is determined to see the canal cleaned up.

She added: “We don’t know if he can get it all cleaned up but we’ll try and help him get done what we can.”

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