PICTURES: Volunteers take half a tonne of rubbish out of River Don in Sheffield

Waders and kayakers tidied up a 500-metre stretch of the River Don in Sheffield city centre between Ball Street bridge and the Gardeners Rest.

The rubbish they dredged up included nine car bumpers, a dozen tyres, two bikes, an off-road motorcycle, a lawnmower and a vacuum cleaner.

Organiser Jane Campbell said Saturday’s event had been ‘incredible’.

She said: “The energy has been awesome and what we got done was really impactful.

“Someone said it has taken a million careless acts to get our planet in the mess that it is currently in.

“But if we take part in a million careful acts this is something that we can solve.

“We hope the clean-up inspires others to take action.”

The invite was part of a weekend of environmental action timed to coincide with the annual Sheffield Adventure Film Festival.

As well as removing litter and debris from the river channel and banking, the volunteers also cut back and planted vegetation and made ‘bug hotels’.

The event acted as a launch event for Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean which runs until April 23.

The kayakers included paddlers from Sheffield Hallam University and the Sheffield City Kayak Club as well as environmentalist Cal Major, the founder of Paddle Against Plastic.

Visit www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/volunteer/litter-heroes for more information.