An group of people took it upon themselves to tidy up a river bank in a bid to rid the community of rubbish.

More than 30 volunteers came together on Saturday, September 8 to participate in a river clean as part of the Plastic Free Ivybridge campaign and Ivybridge Environmental Action Group.

In two hours 10 bags of rubbish were collected along with numerous other bits of waste including mobile phones, motorcycle parts, a wooden pallet, and two 15m sections of piping.

The group even built a temporary waste structure at the end of the river clean.

Low water levels allowed volunteers to access the far bank and help recover waste that was “previously unaccessible”.

Tim Poate, who set up Plastic Free Ivybridge, said: “It was great to see community support of all ages, including the Ivybridge Lions, come together to improve the condition of our river and reduce the waste that reaches the coastlines.

“We found less waste compared with the last clean - hopefully a trend that will continue at the next river clean.”

Plastic Free Ivybridge is keen to support and promote any business that are actively taking steps to reduce their plastic footprint. With more business engagement, Ivybridge is close to gaining ‘Plastic Free’ status from Surfers Against Sewage.

For more information and to get involved, please email [email protected] or search ‘Plastic Free Ivybridge’ on Facebook.