Seventeen shopping trolleys were pulled out of a short stretch the River Irwell in just a couple of hours.

United Utilities joined forces with volunteers from the Radcliffe litter pickers and Little Britain Anglers to organise a successful litter pick event along the banks of the Irwell.

The event brought together United Utilities’ river rangers and 25 volunteers who dedicated their time to clean up a section of the river near the town centre on Saturday morning. During the event volunteers pulled out a whopping 17 shopping trolleys from the river along with 56 bags of rubbish, including plastic waste, glass bottles and other debris.

Daniel Lynch, river ranger at United Utilities, said: “We were very pleased to work with the Radcliffe litter pickers and Little Britain Anglers and are grateful for all their enthusiasm at this clean-up event.

“We look forward to building on this relationship and would encourage local residents and environmental enthusiasts to join future activities.” Gill Smith from Radcliffe Litter Pickers said: “Together we managed to successfully retrieve a lot of shopping trolleys and bags of rubbish from the River Irwell.

“We look forward to working with them again in the future and removing more of the historical litter from the river in Radcliffe. “This pick was certainly very successful.”

United Utilities said it is committed to working alongside local communities to transform the health of the rivers in North West.