A group of volunteers involved in a Hitchin tidy-up were shocked to find a bike dumped in a river among other items of junk that blighted a beauty spot.

The Comet: Countryside Management Service volunteers Rob Carter, Paul Frost, Veronica Gardener and Peter Burton with the rubbish cleared from the river Oughton including a motorbike, four tyres, about seven bundles of Comet newspapers from 2014 and car seatsCountryside Management Service volunteers Rob Carter, Paul Frost, Veronica Gardener and Peter Burton with the rubbish cleared from the river Oughton including a motorbike, four tyres, about seven bundles of Comet newspapers from 2014 and car seats (Image: Archant)

A group of volunteers involved in a Hitchin tidy-up were shocked to find a bike dumped in a river among other items of junk that blighted a beauty spot.

Veronica Gardner from Hitchin, along with 13 other volunteers for the Countryside Management Service paid a trip to the Oughton River in the nature reserve in Oughtonhead Common to help remove rubbish.

Veronica said: “The Countryside Management Service was aware that stretch needed a tidy up, so 14 volunteers went down there last Thursday to help remove as much rubbish as we could from the river.

“The more rubbish in a river the less it flows which is bad for wildlife. You expect to find cans and bottles and things like that – but a motorbike?

“It’s outrageous. What sort of imbecile would dump a motorbike in a river? It took four of us to remove it wearing our waders. The whole day was a real team effort.”

To volunteer call 01992 588 433.