Mangle and carpets among fly-tipped river rubbish

Fly-tipped rubbish including old carpets, tyres and even a mangle were among items pulled out of a West Yorkshire waterway by volunteers last week.

The group, working with the Aire Rivers Trust, removed litter that had been dumped in Bradford Beck, Shipley, and on surrounding banks.

The trust said volunteers collected 132 bags of rubbish and lots of large items, "including carpets, a mangle, and five tyres".

A spokesman said: "Our waterways deserve to be treated with respect."

"Litter and fly-tipping can alter the flow of streams and rivers and pollute the water, which harms wildlife, so it's important to keep it clean.

"We made great progress to remove this litter and get Bradford Beck looking great again."

Nick Milsom, Senior Projects Officer, said there were about 23 volunteers working hard over Thursday and Friday last week.

The groups focussed on a section of the footpath which runs from Poplar Road and follows Bradford Beck down to Shipley railway station at Leeds Road.

He said: "The work is seasonal, so at the moment we are concentrating collecting litter and fly-tipping, before the nettles or the brambles become too thick and you can't get amongst it.

"Some things are submerged in the water or at the side of the bank."

He said the amount of rubbish collected was typical for the trust's weekly volunteer sessions, but that they wanted to concentrate on that section as there are fish living their whose habitat has been improved through litter-picking.

"It's very satisfying to think you have made such a difference," Mr Milsom said.

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