January 12, 2018 11.12 am This story is over 73 months old

Almost two tonnes of rubbish pulled from Lincoln waterways in one year

You can volunteer too.

Thoughtful volunteers in Lincoln have removed almost two tonnes of litter from the River Witham in one year.

Two River care groups in the city, Witham and Sincil Bank, gave up 1,172 hours of their time in 2017 to keep Lincoln clean and protect wildlife.

“We call out volunteers litter heroes and all for good reason”, explained Keep Britain Tidy programme officer Fiona McKenna in her column on The Lincolnite.

Photo: Nick Rawsthorne

She explained the volunteers pulled unusual items from the water, including an axe, bold cutters, a knife, crockery, children’s toys and huge amounts of plastic.

Some 1,960kg of dumped rubbish was recovered in total in 2017.

Photo: Nick Rawsthorne

Photo: Nick Rawsthorne

“Due to the nature of the river banks the group have had to come up with some inventive ways to stay safe whilst accessing the river”, said Fiona.

Fire crews helped with the clean-up in July. Photo: Nick Rawsthorne

Photo: Nick Rawsthorne

“They use ropes to lower adventurous volunteers onto the banks and have also had help from local fire rescue crews who combined their in water safety training with helping to remove litter from the river!”

Photo: Nick Rawsthorne

Photo: Nick Rawsthorne

Photo: Nick Rawsthorne

The group are welcoming new volunteers to help with the cause this year. People can find out more and get in touch with the team by searching for Lincoln RiverCare on Facebook.