Floods dump rubbish in Bay.

Raging flood waters in the rivers Taff and Ely have dumped tonnes of rubbish in prestigious Cardiff Bay. The football pitch-sized raft of tree branches, tyres, piping, children's toys, plastic bottles and an old fridge door was pushed across the Bay by strong winds, and now floats in front of the Mermaid Quay shopping development and the site of the new National Assembly building.

'We have seen the highest river flows for three years in the last week, and these have resulted in a large build up of debris in the Bay,' said a spokesman for Cardiff Harbour Authority.

'Our staff and the specially designed boat Harbour One will be working very hard over the next few days to remove the debris.'

But AMs in the assembly say the mess is disgusting, and that it is putting people off visiting the Bay.

'This rubbish has been here for several days now and frankly looks absolutely disgusting,' said AM Jonathan Morgan, who can see the mess from his office.

And fellow South Wales Central member David Melding added: 'We simply can't allow one of Cardiff's major landmarks to descend into this state.'