City folk kicked off spring cleaning season and went wading for waste in a bid to clean up the River Wensum.

The Big Green Spring River Clean event took place at Anderson’s Meadow last Saturday.

Organised by Green Party councillor for Sewell ward, Gary Champion, the get-together was part of The Great British Spring Clean, a national campaign run by Keep Britain Tidy offering people the chance to contribute to maintaining their local environment.

The event also served to celebrate World Water Day, which aims to raise awareness about the significant number of people who still lack access to clean water worldwide.

Norwich Evening News: Some 45 city folk got stuck in - removing lots of rubbish from the waterways Some 45 city folk got stuck in - removing lots of rubbish from the waterways (Image: Submitted)

Mr Champion said: “Water is important to our lives, we cannot live without it.

"So, although World Water Day is about taking action to tackle the water crisis globally, community action like this is great way to get everyone involved in looking after the water in their local areas.

"Clearing rubbish and litter from around the river will prevent it being washed down into our seas and thus help tackle the increasing pollution problems.”

Participant Shay Jordan said: "There was a great turnout we filled so many bags over a couple of hours.

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"From beer bottles and crisp packets to garden furniture and an Etch A Sketch, dozens of bags were filled by tens of volunteers, with some even getting their feet wet to retrieve litter from the water.

"It was a fantastic way to spend the morning and our wonderful city is cleaner for it.”

Sara Dunseath, who lives in the area, said: “It was delightful to take part in this Green community event to clean up Anderson Meadow although I was a little bit shocked at the amount of litter we gathered in a very short amount of time between us all.”