Volunteers interested in helping to monitor and prevent pollution in rivers are being encouraged to attend a training session on Saturday. 

The Cornwall Wildlfe Trust is looking for people who can commit to regular monitoring of riverflies. 

Species such as mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies are particularly sensitive to water pollution, and any change in their numbers can be a useful early indication that there is a problem. 

A trust spokesperson said: “Pollution incidents can occur in our watercourses, spelling disaster for river ecology. Regular monitoring is the best way of identifying such incidents early and enabling a rapid response, to improve river and bathing water quality. 

“We are looking to build a team of community volunteers who carry out monthly samples and we are very keen to hear from new volunteers. 

“The monitoring technique involves pairs of volunteers taking samples from the riverbed each month, and recording the presence and abundance of eight invertebrate groups. If numbers drop below expected levels, the Environment Agency is informed and will take action to investigate the suspected pollution incident.” 

This Saturday’s training session will run from 10am to 4pm at Forest Holidays Deerpark, Herodsfoot. Places must be booked by calling Iain Barker on 07944 506310.