Police pull rusty bell from river

Police divers came across the bell while on a routine exercise

Police divers in Nottinghamshire made an unexpected discovery after yanking a rusty bell from the River Trent.

Nottinghamshire Police said members of its underwater search team found it during a routine training dive in April.

PC Mike Grant was able to match the object to a barge originally built in 1956, which was known as Esso Nottingham before being re-registered as the Humber Prince eight years later.

The craft had been used to transport kerosene and petrol up the river to Colwick before it was retired.

The bell was on a barge that was originally built in 1956

Mark Whitaker, managing director of Hull-based John H Whitaker Tankers, which had owned the barge, said he was contacted by PC Grant after the bell was recovered.

"Our ships' bells were almost never mounted on the forward mast where they should be as they always got stolen," he said.

"Instead they were normally kept in the captain's cabin for safe keeping and only brought up on deck if they were needed in fog.

"How on earth this one ended up in the river is a bit of a mystery.

"It's possible somebody tried to steal it, got disturbed and chose to ditch it overboard rather than getting caught red handed.

"Obviously it's a bit big to stuff up your jumper."

PC Grant, a roads policing officer who has volunteered with the underwater search team since 2015, said he was "delighted" to learn more about the bell.

"We regularly take part in training dives along the embankment and often resurface with various lost items we find on the surface," he said.

"This was something that really caught our imagination."