Arnold: Dinghy man defies council to remove chair from park lake

Paul Clark claims he had no choice but to remove the chair from the lake himself

A man who used a dinghy to remove a fly-tipped office chair from a park lake has been told he should not have taken matters into his own hands.

Paul Clark took his boat to Arnot Hill Park in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, two days after first noticing the chair.

Mr Clark, 42, admitted he had been "naughty" but said he had "no choice" but to remove the chair himself.

Gedling Borough Council said residents should not enter the lake under any circumstances.

Mr Clark went to the park, which has a Green Flag quality award, at about 22:00 BST on Tuesday.

He paddled out and tied a rope around the chair before dragging it on to the bank.

The council said the chair's location in the lake would have delayed its removal

The authority said the chair was reported on Tuesday and that fly tips were usually removed within 10 days.

However, it admitted removing the chair would have taken longer because of its location.

"Due to it being in the middle of the lake, we would require extra resource and risk assessments before removing it," the council said.

Mr Clark said: "I care about wildlife so much and couldn't bear the idea of a duck/goose/swan getting stuck.

"I found my dinghy out the loft and took it down in the car. I'd managed to tie the rope on and dragged it with help from my son.

"It was so heavy (filled with water) and I've hurt my leg lifting it out."

A spokesperson for the council said: "While we can understand the frustration of seeing vandalism like this in one of our beautiful parks, residents should not be taking matters into their own hands as it could end with a serious accident.

"Our staff are professionally trained and use protective equipment for this type of incident.

"We will be investigating the matter and checking our CCTV to see if we can find out who dumped the chair in the lake in the first place but residents should not, under any circumstances, enter the lake for any reason."