Angling group fishes out stolen moped from river

Volunteers from the Peterborough and District Angling Association discovered the moped on their regular patrols

Angling bailiffs on patrol have fished out a motorcycle from a river.

A team of three volunteer water bailiffs from Peterborough and District Angling association found the dumped motorcycle in the River Nene near Orton, Peterborough.

The bailiffs, also called "water keepers", mostly work voluntarily and patrol riversides around the city to deter antisocial behaviour and support the angling communities.

Cambridgeshire Police attended and confirmed the moped was reported as stolen.

The force attended after being alerted to the bike in the river

But it is not clear yet if it has been returned to its owner.

The association said bailiffs gave up their personal angling time to keep the rivers safe and patrol them.

Over the years, the team has recovered several unusual, items including a reportedly stolen handbag containing bank cards.

Recently, the team cleared out a number of trolleys, bikes and scrap metal from the River Welland.

Cambridgeshire Police has recovered the stolen bike

Chairman Rob Harris said the organisation had seen the condition of rivers deteriorate over the years and has blamed pollution and fly-tipping.

“They [bailiffs] are a great deterrent to any anti-social behaviour alongside rivers and keep people in check and report any suspicious activity to police.

“They give up their own time to help out the angling community. They believe in giving back.

“And when stolen items are recovered and handed to the owners, then it is nice to be part of the happy ending."

But he said rivers were increasingly being misused.

"We recently saw hundreds of fish were killed in River Nene due to polluted water," he said.

“As a group, we are very keen to combat this. We love our rivers and want to protect them.”