My struggle to get sheep's carcass removed from our river

* The river is now free of the sheep's carcass.

UPDATE: The sheep was moved voluntarily after 11.30am by one of the local raft guides - not any of the authorities one thought should have been responsible. I'd like to say thanks on behalf of the town to whoever moved it.

* Our bit of the River Dee is in Wales and not England, I had to inform the Canal & River Trust. I do have a picture of the sheep but I believe it is is too distressing to show.

Apart from the obvious environmental implications, having a dead sheep wallowing in the River Dee is distressing for both residents and visitors to this tourist town of ours.

That's why I've spent quite some time trying to report it to the authority responsible for removing it.

One might believe exactly which authority was pretty obvious. I first thought it was the Canal & River Trust. After all, the clue is in the title.

So last Saturday morning I rang their office covering Wales only to encounter a call handler who didn't have too firm a grasp on the spot where the deceased sheep was lying.

I told him it was in the middle of the River Dee within Riverside Park, Llangollen, Denbighshire.

"Ah well, I'm afraid that's not our responsibility as we don't handle the River Dee. It would be up to the local authority and the Dee means it would be Chester West and Cheshire."

Baffled, I asked him if he knew that this particular bit of the Dee was actually in Wales and not Cheshire, i.e England.

There was some shuffling in the background as he obviously checked out an online mapping resource and replied that I was quite right, it was in Wales, so the local council I'd have to report it to was the one covering that area.

I was far from satisfied but by this time I'd come up with a better idea - why not try Natural Resources Wales (NRW) who, I reasoned, must look after any unwanted objects causing potential environmental hazards in a Welsh river.

Another call and another very polite and helpful call handler brought me another negative response.

No, I was told, NRW wasn't responsible for shifting dead animals from the country's rivers, even one as well used and visited as ours. Try the local council, I was again informed.

I therefore rang Denbighshire County Council, only to learn from the automated response that they wouldn't be open until 8.30am on Monday. 

Dutifully, I rang again first thing this morning, only to be put on hold and told - three times - that my call would be answered as soon as an advisor became available, which they did not.

It was the same story every one of the four other times I tried to get through to "nerve-centre" of our county council. So, for now, I have given up and spending about 20 minutes hanging fruitlessly on the line. Let me say this is, frankly, an appalling service from the county council.

Meanwhile, the poor sheep was still there at around 11.30am and filling up with gases which I fear may lead to it exploding and causing a big environmental problem for the river in which so many people either canoe or paddle.

By the way, if anybody knows which farmer this sheep belongs to they please let them know it needs removing from the Dee as soon as possible.