A NEW river junk sculpture has been created to highlight the problems of rubbish found in the River Erme.

Volunteers from Ivybridge Environmental Action Group have been organising regular river clean-ups for more than a decade to highlight the problems caused by litter getting into our rivers and seas.

River junk sculptures have now been created and exhibited as part of this awareness-raising process.

The latest such sculpture was created by IEAG members Tess Wilmot and Jude Binks for the recent open-garden event at the Riverside Permaculture Project near Ivybridge to celebrate International Permaculture Day.

Visitors to the garden were surprised to find strange figures with musical instruments ­constructed entirely from objects recovered from the river and its banks.

The reclaimed materials included a guitar, two footballs, two chairs, a small electric piano, a ­plastic boat, a garden hose, a camera, a laptop computer, a mug, plastic bottles, various pieces of plastic and glass, carrier bags, rusty metal, a ­delivery card for a supermarket, a wellington boot, wire, an umbrella and an unnervingly lifelike rubber arm showing cuts and exposed veins.

Tess said: 'We've been amazed at what we find in the river and this new sculpture is a light-­hearted but meaningful way to show the extent of the problem.'

Jude added: 'My favourite features are the junk man's ears, which are made from the handles from a cup and a mug.'

An IEAG spokesman said: 'One of the underlying ethics of permaculture is Earth care. The sculptures are great examples of this by demonstrating the benefits of removing damaging objects from our waterways, thereby helping to make our rivers, beaches and seas better for ­people and for wildlife.'

IEAG is looking for active and supportive volunteers to continue to make a difference locally.

If you would like to help, please contact IEAG chair Ian Smith on 01752 892676.