FISH in the River Darwen which flowed through Blackburn’s Witton Park had to be moved so that a new clean-up device could be installed.

The ‘litter trap’ would be the first of its kind in the country and would collect rubbish dumped into the river and prevent it from causing major environmental damage.

A large excavator was brought in in 2006 to start construction of the trap which required a section of the river to be drained so that foundations could be sunk and to protect workmen.

The trap, which cost £27,000, would have the potential to collect 100 Transit vans’ worth of rubbish a year.