A bike, fishing lines and even an iron garden gate pulled from park pond in clean-up

Volunteers cleaned up a Hartlepool park pond which they say had 'unspeakably filthy items' left in it.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Mar 2018, 15:23 BST
Updated 26th Mar 2018, 15:25 BST
Items recovered from the pond in Rossmere Park as part of a clean up event.Items recovered from the pond in Rossmere Park as part of a clean up event.
Items recovered from the pond in Rossmere Park as part of a clean up event.

The Friends of Rossmere group, which looks after Rossmere Park in the town, held a clean-up at the beauty spot.

They used magnets and grapples to haul a bike, tyres, a number of iron rods and even an iron front garden gate from the water.

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Rossmere Park.Rossmere Park.
Rossmere Park.

Fishing lures, lines, weights as well as a load of sunken branches and bags of rubbish were also recovered.

Volunteer Stephen Taylor explained what the group have done as part of the clean up.

He said: “The smaller items we black plastic bagged and put inside the park bins.

“The bicycle, tyres, iron gate, iron rods we put on a tarpaulin and dragged them around to an off the path location behind the dog dirt bin near the south east entrance.

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Items recovered from the pond in Rossmere Park as part of a clean up event.Items recovered from the pond in Rossmere Park as part of a clean up event.
Items recovered from the pond in Rossmere Park as part of a clean up event.

“The sunken branches we put on a tarpaulin and dragged them around to an off the path location near the North East entrance.

“All of the items are really filthy so we think there is little chance of their being thrown back in by the local yobs.”

It comes as Hartlepool Borough Council has been awarded £549,810 to help redevelop Rossmere Park.

Mondegreen EB Ltd – a not-for-profit company, which specialises in managing community projects funded through the Landfill Communities Fund – has written to the council offering the grant.

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Items recovered from the pond in Rossmere Park as part of a clean up event.Items recovered from the pond in Rossmere Park as part of a clean up event.
Items recovered from the pond in Rossmere Park as part of a clean up event.

The money will help realise a masterplan for Rossmere Park, which proposes a new car park, a covered events space, works to the pond and the refurbishment of existing play areas.

Other developments will include the installation of a ball court and an improved toddlers’ facility within the existing cafe.

The Friends of Rossmere group has a number of planned events taking place over the next few months and others are being encouraged to get involved.

This Saturday from noon until 2pm there is a free Easter rock and egg hunt and on Tuesday, April 10, from 9am to noon there is a bat morning at Rossmere Community Centre in which people can learn about bats and how to use a bat detector.

For more details about the group, call Mr Taylor on 07973300527.

Related topics:VolunteersHartlepoolNorth EastHartlepool Borough Council