Grantham Rivercare volunteers remove tyres, traffic cones and a Christmas tree from River Witham

Grantham RiverCare group set out on its 91st clean-up of the Witham last weekend and recovered a Christmas tree and a boombox.

A group of 14 volunteers collected and separated recyclable materials, cigarette ends and broken glass as part of the clean-up.

Ian Simmons co-leads Grantham Rivercare alongside David Martin.

Ian said: “As ever, we collected more than we would like to - around 200kg from the two mile stretch between Bridge End Road and the white bridge in Wyndham Park. Interestingly, around 20kg of this was recyclable and separated out for that fate. This was mostly bottles, cans and glass.

“Luckily, there was only one shopping trolley to be recovered but we later learned that three more had been dumped subsequently. These were removed as soon as we could.

“Again, our river walker Gary was a great help, reaching litter away from the riverbanks.”

As well as the Christmas tree and boombox, they also collected a speaker system, plant pot, cushions, tyre, traffic cone bases and numerous pieces of scrap metal.

Ian added: “As with any items like this, we check for our native white-clawed crayfish, which resulted in three being returned back to the river.”

Some of the items recovered from the river were showcased at a stall last Sunday for ‘World Rivers Day’, and as part of the Wyndham park Heritage Fun Day to raise awareness and encourage more people to sign up as volunteers for the clean up.

The 92nd clean-up will be on Saturday, November 23.

Meet at the boating lake in Wyndham Park at 9.30am or riverside path off Bridge End Road at 10am.

For more information search ‘RiverCare Grantham’ on Facebook or contact Ian on 07950 000928 or David on 07739 864490.