A mum has spoken of her shock at finding two birds’ nests built with disgusting plastic waste.
Hollie Allen came across the first nest behind a fence panel in her back garden in Colchester, with pieces of bubble wrap nestled deep inside for insulation.
The 33-year-old found a second later that afternoon, which was lined with a mess of plastic fibres.
"I just looked at it and thought 'that's not right'," she said after the discovery on Thursday, October 24.
"I was just absolutely shocked.
"When you see stuff littered about you know it's bad but you don't see how it really affects things.
"When you see it with your own eyes for the first time, it's awful."
Mrs Allen showed the nests to her five-year-old son Jacob and said: "We've talked about how dangerous it can be when people drop stuff on the floor and litter.
"I had to explain to him how it must have got there and he was so upset by it.
"Jacob was worried the plastic would hurt the birdies and wanted to take it to show and tell so others would know how dangerous the rubbish was.
"He said: 'I want to take it and show everyone how it hurts the birdies'.
Mrs Allen added: "At the moment it's all about the sea. Everyone is concerned about cleaning up the sea because we know how bad all the plastic in there is, but no-one is really as aware of what is happening on the land.
"We need to clean the whole planet."
John More, living landscapes coordinator at Essex Wildlife Trust, said: "It is terrible to see these photos but it shows the stark reality of what our wildlife is facing every day.
"As a society we are using too much plastic and discarding it all too easily and it's frequently becoming intertwined in our local species' habitats.
"Plastic is one challenge we can all tackle together though. We urge people to think of the impacts of the products they're buying and always looking for recyclable options and disposing of them accordingly, to stop instances like this occurring."
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