East Lancashire team pulls 14 tonnes of rubbish from canal (From Lancashire Telegraph)

East Lancashire team pulls 14 tonnes of rubbish from canal

8:00pm Tuesday 26th July 2011 in Hapton Exclusive By Vanessa Cornall, Reporter

litter boat Lee Shepherd with some of the rubbish

A TEAM of volunteers has removed a staggering 14 tonnes of rubbish from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

Sofas, shopping trollies, fencing, office chairs, household waste and tyres were among items pulled from the water during the huge spring clean.

The six-week operation, led by hire boat operator Lee Shepherd, of Hapton Valley Boats, has seen a 15-strong team of volunteers cleaning up grotspot areas along a 23-mile stretch of the canal.

Mr Shepherd, of Simpson Street, Hapton, said: “Everyone had been complaining about the state of the water for months but no one was doing anything about it.

“My home backs on to the canal and I wanted to improve the appearance of the area as well as improve the safety.

“If someone fell in the water they could easily get trapped under a trolley or a farmer’s fence and drown.

“People who dump rubbish in the canal need to be prosecuted and handed large fines.”

Working with British Waterways, which has provided a litter boat, the volunteers targeted hotspots between Barrowford and Blackburn.

So far they have collected a large skip full of rubbish.

The volunteers plan to continue the spring clean throughout the summer and are encouraging local residents to adopt parts of the canal.

Mr Shepherd added: “It cost British Waterways £200,000 each year to clean up the canals.

“If local residents take ownership of small stretches of the canal we will be able to prevent people using it as a dumping ground.

“By working together we can keep the British waterways clean.”

Anyone wishing to get adopt part of the canal can visit www.waterscape.com.