Supermarket trolley, traffic cones and a bicycle pulled out of Langstone Harbour during clean-up operation

A day of cleaning up the water was undertaken by the Friends of Langstone Harbour on Saturday as part of their regular programme of caring for the marine environment.

Items including a supermarket trolley, a bicycle, several traffic cones and loads of plastic rubbish were hauled from the harbour near the Eastern Road roundabout in Portsmouth.

John Goodspeed, chairman of the group, said: ‘We don’t understand how supermarket trollies or traffic cones get into the harbour, but it seems that if we don’t pull them out then nobody else will.’

John Worley, who leads the mud recovery team, said: ‘Recovering stuff from thick mud requires special equipment, teamwork and training. You need a strong and co-ordinated shore party to pull ropes and look out for everyone’s safety.’

Mr Worley feels lucky that his 17-year-old granddaughter Scarlett Sprague is a company sergeant major in the Portsmouth Grammar School Combined Cadet Force.

Scarlett directs the shore-party for John and makes sure everything runs smoothly during the shoreline sweep.

The Friends have been pulling discarded items from the harbour for more than 20 years, with hauls mostly consisting of shoreline plastic bottles and bags.

For work below the high tide mark they have developed a canvas sled and a system of ropes and signals to ensure they can carry out their work safely.

John added: ‘Safety is our top priority.’

All of the recovered material was taken to the Havant Household Waste Recycling Centre to make sure it is properly disposed of.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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