Waterside litter blitz

Rotary Club of Banbury members have taken part in a massive waterside litter pick – and removed tons of rubbish from the River Cherwell and from the Oxford Canal.

Eleven rotarians and one wife tackled the canal towpath from The Mill, past the Light Cinema, to Spiceball Park - and the river through Bridge Street Park and alongside Lidl supermarket. They were joined and assisted by Banbury Town Council's park rangers. 

A three-hour ‘plastic blitz’ saw the team clear large items including shopping trolleys, heavy-plastic road barriers, traffic cones, scaffolding poles, pallets, and a large metal barrier (10ft and 6ft poles with wire-metal netting) from the river.

Working in pairs with gloves, litter pickers and bags supplied by Cherwell District Council, the team filled 13 sacks of throwaway waste – and, aided by the park rangers, used heavy-lifting equipment to remove the bigger objects.

The blitz was part of the ‘Rotary Support the Environment’ initiative – something all rotary clubs have been aware of for some time but recently made a key focus area by Rotary International. 

Rotarian Fred Riches said: “We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the town council’s environmental team and to CDC for its support and provision of litter picking and collection equipment.”