They build up of rubbish on the banks and water around Enniskillen is becoming an all too familiar sight in recent times and has been described as “disgraceful” by a local councillor.

The SDLP’s Paul Blake has said that the assortment of items that can been seen in the water just shows the lack of respect that some people have towards Lough Erne and believes that anti-social behaviour is contributing to the problem.

“It was absolutely disgraceful the way that some of the people are treating the water around Enniskillen,” said Councillor Blake.

“This is the one thing that is a unique selling point for our town, the lakes that surround us and the disrespect and the neglect that people show towards it, we are only just scraping the surface of it.”

Around Johnston’s Bridge in the town where there is a significant build up, Councillor Blake believes young people are gathering and are just throwing their rubbish directly into the water.

“What we are seeing is clearly just scratching the surface and it is disgraceful that people treat the lake like that.

“It’s totally giving the place a bad name. It will put off tourists and that’s a big thing for the county to have. If they see people engaging in this type of behaviour and having no respect for the local area and the amazing county we live in.

“Young people need to be taught to be respectful to our county.”

There have been many attempts by various organisations to try and tackle the problem but it only seems to be a temporary solution to the problem.

The Lough Erne Landscape Partnership (LELP) organised a Community Litter pick in partnership with Erne Paddlers, Share Discovery Village, Blue Green Yonder, Keep NI Beautiful and Fermanagh and Omagh District Council on August 10.

Commenting on the litter pick and what they volunteers collected, LELP manager Elmarie Swanepoel said it was disappointing to see the recurrence of littering.

“Lough Erne Landscape Partnership is extremely grateful to all of the volunteers in the local community who gave up their time to help clean up the waterways and shoreline around Enniskillen. It is disappointing to see the recurrence of littering in some of the locations.

“Enniskillen is a beautiful town offering a very unique landscape, we hope that working with the local community we can ensure that people recognise the importance of disposing of rubbish in the correct way in order to protect and preserve the natural heritage of the area.”

Over 45 volunteers, including Councillor Paul Blake, and a team from Enniskillen Youth Action carried out a clean-up of the waterways and shorelines around Enniskillen.

The Volunteers collected a total of 22 bags of litter in just two hours, and found some surprising items including patio chairs, a shopping trolley and even a bicycle frame.

Councillor Blake took part in the litter pick and he commended the work that was carried out.

“I took part in that morning partnership and I think there are plans to do that on a monthly basis and I think it is commendable and fantastic but at the same time they shouldn’t have to do it if people took responsibility for their actions.”