Litter picking scuba divers unearth centuries-old rubbish from river

Scuba divers, canoeists and environment enthusiasts spent a day fishing rubbish out the River Wensum, with some of it dating back to the Victorian era.

Peter Cutting, a Green Party member living in Norwich, organised the three-hour litter pick at Pull's Ferry along the city's riverside on Saturday, June 5.

He was joined by 35 others, who between them managed to retrieve rusty shopping trolleys, tyres, cones, electric motors, plastic bottles and cans out the waterway.

The most surprising discovery, however, was that of two Victorian-era stoneware lemonade bottles, which Mr Cutting attests were "absolutely covered in muck" after sitting in the riverbed for so long.

He said: "It was a fantastic turnout, and the boat we used to put the rubbish on was quite literally full to the gunnels.

"You could tell some of the stuff had been in there for years, but luckily the amount was still less than we'd seen on our last litter pick in April when we'd just come out of lockdown.

"That was way worse - so things are definitely improving."