Volunteers from the Melton and Oakham Waterways Society have been hard at work on the river around Melton Mowbray in the aftermath of Storm Doris.
On one of their regular work parties they discovered a blown down tree that was completely blocking the waterway. The tree had fallen in the Sysonby area and was causing a build-up of debris brought down by recent heavy rain. This was acting as a dam and, had it been left, could have resulted in higher water levels and local flooding.
The group set-to using “Badger”, one of their workboats, to get close enough to start cutting the monster into pieces to forge a way past and release the build-up of pressure.
A spokesman for the group said that unfortunately sunken trees are likened to icebergs in that the majority of the structure is under the water and that the volunteers would have to return soon with their heavy-duty winch to raise the tree to enable further removal to take place.