BIKES, prams and traffic cones were amongst the haul of items collected during a river clean up in Keighley.

Volunteers turned out in force to target a stretch of the River Worth at Ingrow.

Those involved included members of the River Worth Friends and Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Environment Group, the Aire Rivers Trust and staff from Bradford Council’s neighbourhood team.

In addition to the bigger items, the clean up netted nearly 60 bagfuls of rubbish.

The litter blitz was one of a dozen similar initiatives staged over a weekend along stretches of river between Skipton and Leeds.

Angling clubs, wildlife and community groups and anti-litter campaigners were all involved in the Our Clean River venture.

Locations of other clean ups in the Bradford district included Bingley and Scholemoor, with Plastic Free Bingley, the Friends of Myrtle Park and Friends of Bradford's Becks taking part. Plus, members of Bradford Dawoodi Bohras community supported a session in Leeds.

Simon Watts, from the Aire Rivers Trust, says: "It’s great to see so many groups that are proud of their stretch of river and want to help it continue to become healthier and home to more wildlife.

"Whether it’s to fish or to walk alongside, many people have a close connection to the river and find it an enjoyable and rewarding place to visit. Events like this are a great opportunity to meet new groups working towards a shared goal."

He adds: "The Aire Rivers Trust takes volunteers out on Thursdays and Fridays each week. Throughout the year they do a huge variety of tasks, from litter picks to tree planting, caring for riverside spaces for nature. Many of the groups meet regularly throughout the year. People can find details of these and the other groups who took part in Our Clean River at aireriverstrust.org.uk."

The trust urges people to take care when disposing of household waste, and only use licensed contractors.

"Many people do not realise how their rubbish may end up in rivers," says Mr Watts. "Some of it is fly-tipped by unlicensed waste companies, but there are large quantities of wet wipes that are found and they will have made their way out of sewer overflows. The blockages they cause increase the number of spills into our river and lead to greater harm to wildlife. Always bin wet wipes, even if manufacturers claim they can be flushed down toilets."