Over 40 sacks of litter and harmful rubbish were cleared from the banks of the River Trent by the community.
The litter pick organised by Newark and Sherwood Extinction Rebellion took place on Saturday morning (February 17).
Volunteers ranged from the age of five to 85 with several town and district councillors joining in the effort.
Newark XR member Carl Braithwaite, 55, said: “It was great to see the community out in force today with over 30 volunteers turning out.
“There was plenty to keep them busy, from the usual array of crisp bags and old tin cans through to more unusual finds such as a rusty fishing reel and a plastic pig.
“What was also really noticeable was the flood debris left behind, including scores of wet wipes left stranded on bushes and even sanitary towels and tampons that should never be flushed down toilets and certainly shouldn’t be reaching our rivers.”
The rubbish was collected along with an abandoned disabled shopping trolley and a sack barrow, both of which were retrieved and put to use to help collect the filled rubbish sacks.
The litter was collected after the event by a Newark and Sherwood District Council worker.
“Our message today is that we have worked to clean up the river bank, now we need Severn Trent to play their part and stop the dumping of raw sewage into our waterways. Newark deserves better,” added Carl.
XR member Graham Keal, who helped organise the litter pick, said: “While it’s a bit disheartening to see how much litter is so heedlessly thrown away by the public, it’s tremendously encouraging to see people roll up their sleeves and set about restoring the beauty of this lovely riverside area right by Newark Castle.
“It’s very difficult to get water companies and governments to do the right thing regarding pollution and climate change, but many hands literally mucking in for a couple of hours on a Saturday morning made a clear and obvious improvement to the area and it is so uplifting. The mood afterwards was very positive, I think everyone enjoyed it.
“We would like to thank the district council for their invaluable support in providing sacks and loaning equipment, including litter pickers and hi-vis tunics, as well as removing everything we collected before it could become a nuisance.”
