Scooters, pipes, fence spikes and a fishing rod found in Hartlepool pond clean up

The Friends of Rossmere Group who took part in the clean-up. From left, Stephen Taylor, Stewart Brown, Iladar Taylor, Rebecca Heasma, Iona Heasman,Steve Heasman and George Springer.

The Friends of Rossmere Group held a clean up event at the park’s pond.

Among the items uncovered were fence spikes, iron bars, two children’s scooters, length of pipe as well as tree branches and a fishing rod.

Some of the rubbish collected by the volunteers.

The group even filled up 10 bags of dirt and rubbish to be taken away.

Stephen Taylor, a member of the group, said: “This is the second one we’ve done and we intend to do it every week or at least every fortnight.

“At the end of July we having an event in the park pond where schoolkids can sail boats and members of the public who have radio-controlled boats can also get involved, so we’re trying to get the pond as clean as possible.

“Some people with the radio-controlled boats might not want to take part if they see that the pond is in a bad state.”

Mr Taylor added the group had managed to uncover various items through the latest clean-up.

“With the water being as dirty as it is, sometimes it’s hard to see what exactly is in the water and you’re doing the work almost totally blind,” he said.

“But with grapples we can pull things out that are quite heavy.

“We also have a powerful magnet which can haul things weighing 165 kilos out of the water.

The Friends of Rossmere Park at a clean-up event at the park's pond.

“We’re getting 5ft-long iron bars, which are really heavy, out of the pond.

“Hopefully we’ll have things sorted soon by doing more of the clean ups and makes the pond a nicer place for people to come to.”

The boating event is due to take place on July 28, while a bat walk is due to take place at Rossmere Park this Saturday, starting at 8pm.

Those wanting to book a place for the bat walk should call Mr Taylor on 0797 3300527.