TROLLEYS, bicycles and a wheelbarrow are amongst countless items pulled from the River Orwell during a clean-up of the area.

A team of volunteers gathered yesterday at parts of the River Orwell and the Gipping to help clear up the area.

James Baker, project manager at Greenways – a partnership which looks after beauty spots and wildlife areas around Ipswich – said that a variety of items had been pulled from the rivers. He said he believed littering on the river beds was gradually getting worse.

“We pulled out old bikes, tyres, a wooden pallet, a few car batteries,” he said. “There was lots of odd bits and pieces too, some mysterious pieces of metal, lots of shopping trolleys, a wheelbarrow and some road signs.

“We try to clean both the River Orwell and the Gipping once a year.

“There have been times in the past when we have found around 86 trolleys near to the Yarmouth Road bridge.

“I think that the amount of rubbish along the walkways besides the river is probably getting worse, but perhaps that is a sign that more people are choosing to walk alongside it.”

Earlier this week, disgruntled town resident Peter Hayward urged the community to pull together in a bid to rid the town of litter.

Mr Hayward told of his anger over the amount of rubbish strewn alongside the River Gipping near West End Road and Yarmouth Road, and the walkway next to it.

The 57-year-old said the level of beer cans, bottles and plastic bags were “completely ruining the area”.