A contraption that skims litter from water has been put to the test in a city’s river to check for microplastics.

The seabin was floated in the River Nene in Peterborough to extract debris, particularly microscopic particles which cannot be seen by the naked eye.

Similar to the way fish tank filtration works, the seabin contains a pump and traps anything floating in the water in a mesh bag, which can then be emptied and analysed for pollutants.