Community takes on 'huge' Bridgwater river clean

Volunteers came together to clean the River Parrett on Friday afternoon

A spontaneous community clean up of a town river has taken place after pictures of rubbish in the water went viral on social media.

Bridgwater resident, Ben Bishop, said he was "shocked" to see the state of the River Parrett in the town, with old shopping trolleys and other debris visible in it.

He posted a picture to a local community group and people came together on the Friday before the bank holiday weekend to remove the junk.

Mr Bishop said: "I just couldn't believe the amount of rubbish".

Shopping trolleys, wheelchairs, tyres, TVs and bikes were some of the items pulled out of the river

Mr Bishop said he felt it was "his duty" to clear up the river and posted on social media to see if he could get others to help.

And while he and other volunteers were getting stuck in, others who were walking by "rolled up their sleeves" to help.

Mr Bishop said: "The post was getting hundreds of reactions and riled people up - lots of residents wanted to help.

"I just couldn't believe how many people stopped to help us on the day - it was quite remarkable."

The volunteers used magnets to help them extract some of the metal objects from the river

Andrew Cosby and other magnet fishers from a group called Towpath Dippers turned up with equipment to help.

He said: "We used the magnets to help bring up trolleys and clear up the river.

"It feels really rewarding - we've made a really good start but we are nowhere near finished."

The next community clean up is expected to happen in the coming weeks during low tide.