Tees Barrage litter picking volunteers enticed by free San Seb coffee
That stretch of the River Tees in Stockton is a popular walking route but it has built a reputation for litter in recent years.Mr Lowe told BBC Radio Tees that the response to his initiative had been "amazing".
"It's also very good for encouraging kids to come down and protect the environment, and just to care for their area," he said."It's one of the most beautiful parts of the North East in my opinion, and we need to look after it."Canal and River Trust regional director Sean McGinley said it had cost £30,000 a year to maintain the bins at the location.He said removing them was a "tough choice", but that it had been done all over the country.
Mr McGinley added that removing the bins had not made a "great difference" to the litter issue."We had litter before, when we had the litter bins, and we've still got a bit of litter now," he said.He thanked the volunteers, saying it was "fantastic to see their efforts helping us and the more the merrier".
Responsibility for the clean-up ultimately lies with Stockton Borough Council, according to government guidelines.While the landowner is expected to maintain the area, the council could be prosecuted if it failed to take enforcement action where necessary.Stockton Borough Council leader Bob Cook previously acknowledged the Labour-led council had those powers "if the need arose", adding it had not taken any action against the Canal and River Trust and was not considering doing so "at this stage".
Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. Send your story ideas here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
13 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Gardeners risk £400 fine for putting one item in their bins during August
Experts have warned that households may be contaminating their waste collections with soil - and have revealed that councils are already starting to ban it from green waste bins UK households are facing potential fines for placing one particular item in their garden bins as new regulations loom. Local councils and authorities are prohibiting soil from green waste containers in preparation for fresh legislation being rolled out by the Labour government next year. "It's one of the most common mistakes we see," declared a representative from My Home Improvements. "Soil might look natural, but it causes major issues for councils trying to turn garden waste into compost. Even a little bit can ruin a whole batch". "Garden bins are not a catch-all for anything green. What feels natural to toss may be harmful to the environment, your community, or the composting process," the spokesperson continued. It comes after an expert revealed how to kill lawn weeds overnight without using chemicals "If you're unsure, always double-check before you throw something away. The five minutes it takes to look it up could save you a £400 fine and a big headache down the line." Households across the UK risk contaminating their refuse collections with soil, experts are cautioning, reports Birmingham Live. This development follows announced changes set to come into force next year, mandating homes to utilise four separate containers. The fresh regulations are due to commence from March 2026. The document titled 'Simpler Recycling in England: policy update' states that most residences and businesses will require four receptacles, which could include bags, wheelie bins, or stackable containers. Alongside soil restrictions, the Government website features guidance entitled"Prevent Japanese knotweed from spreading". The guidance states: "You must dispose of Japanese knotweed waste off-site by transferring it to a disposal facility that's permitted, e.g. a landfill site that has the right environmental permit. "You must prevent Japanese knotweed on your land from spreading into the wild and causing a nuisance. You could be fined up to £5,000 or be sent to prison for up to 2 years if you allow contaminated soil or plant material from any waste you transfer to spread into the wild." This indicates that trimming knotweed or excavating it and transporting it to your local household waste centre without the proper environmental permit could result in penalties or imprisonment. "You must not dispose of Japanese knotweed with other surplus soil or sell soil contaminated with Japanese knotweed as topsoil," the guidance continues.
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Concern over rats at County Hall in Worcester
Pest control experts have been called in over concerns about rats outside County Hall in Worcester - just over a year since the site was at Worcestershire County Council's old headquarters have started to climb into some back gardens, and hang around a pond where children residents have spotted the rodents running across footpaths during daylight hours or scurrying into bushes. The county council said measures were being put in place to help prevent further activity. City councillor Elaine Willmore said she spotted rats for herself after visiting County Hall when she became concerned by the volume of residents who had informed her of a problem."I heard some rustling, and as soon as I heard a noise, I knew it was going to be a rat because of all the complaints I've had," she said. "I just looked up and saw it sitting there, as happy as Larry - it took a look at me and belted it into the pond."Willmore, Labour, added: "This really is a problem - people are concerned about the state of the County Hall generally. I said to someone recently 'it's like a scene from some zombie apocalypse film'. But having all these rats here takes it to another level." The county council vacated the site last year after two major problems with the building - the discovery of Raac, and evidence of Legionella bacteria in the water supply. Most of the land is expected to be put up for sale, with the Reform cabinet also exploring the possibility of using some of it to expand secondary school provision in Worcester. Several residents living near County Hall told the BBC the rats had only become a regular sight in recent weeks. In a statement, the county council said: "A small number of rats have been observed in the lake area outside County Hall, which is not uncommon in urban green spaces, particularly where there is water and regular footfall from people eating or gathering."A pest control team attended and are putting in place measures around the lake to help prevent further activity."Routine maintenance of the site is ongoing, and our contracted caretaking and groundskeeping teams continue to operate as normal." Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
The National
2 days ago
- The National
Knowledge of tartans' origins vital to grasp our history
Not so much today, but not too many years ago, I was a re-enactor of historical periods. Initially, when I lived in England, reenacting the English civil wars between 1646 to 1651. A few years before I migrated to Scotland, I met up with the Scottish contingent of that period which eventually led me to jump a hundred years into 1745 to 1746. The last Jacobite period if you will. In each period, anyone and everyone had to be perfectly correct in what clothing we wore, what armaments we used, and if we partook in living history camping, then what domestic utensils, bedding and container chests were used. Men, women and children of all ages. In order to succeed in this important aspect, England had a living history market twice a year where ready-made equipment could be purchased from experts in their field or, the correct material could also be purchased to create your own wardrobe etc. READ MORE: Scottish Labour councillor suspended for 'bullying' member of the public The point of all this is that historical knowledge was the backbone necessary to, not only wear the correct garb, but to have learned about its origins. Such as with the material for the great kilt of the 18th century. Reading was obviously the necessary source for information and from various sources of authoritative writers. For myself, I learnt that with clans, regardless of which glen they dwelt, most had a local wool spinner and weaver. The colour used in dying the wool came from natural source as in vegetation or crushed stone. This was more or less the origin of how different clans, no matter how related to each other, had their variations of so-called colour and weave of wool into the criss-cross pattern we associate as tartan. Homemade dyes would been quiet pale in some cases. I tried it myself using onion and carrot. The weave would also have been varied according to the choice of the weaver. I expect there might be contradiction to my resourced information, but there was a general consensus amongst us re-enactors, wherever we came from, during discussions about our hobby around the evening campfires. Ideas were shared and information appreciated. Alan Magnus-Bennett Fife THE letter by Gordon Ian MacLeod in the Sunday National (July 27) referencing John McGrath's great play, brought to mind a recent article in the Daily Mail regarding an ongoing case at the Court of Session where the parties in dispute are a wealthy (non-Scottish) landowner and a large energy company (also non-Scottish). The dispute concerned constraint payments – credits given to energy companies to turn off wind turbines when either the demand for electricity is low or the grid cannot get the electricity to where it can be used. Remarkably it turns out that these credits can be traded between energy companies and the landowner obviously wanted his cut of what was produced on his land – despite it being non-existent! Is there a playwright out there who can give us 'The cheviot, the stag and the imaginary electricity' for 2025? The lessons from the original play have obviously not yet cut through. R Millar Darvel NOW that I am no longer a member of the SNP and my once treasured badge of honour, my plastic membership card, has been cut up and awaits recycling, I can't help but think that it is perhaps ironic that it took Mhairi Black to spur me into doing something I should have done a long time earlier. It will not matter to the SNP that another member has left because they don't listen to us anyway! That is a sad indication of the state of play for all us independence supporters. At least I got a good laugh when two plonkers had a chat on Monday. As the president of the free world ranted that he didn't like all sorts of people and other stuff, including windmills and the Labour mayor of London, perhaps the Prime Minister should have told the president that windmills were very, very important because they sent power to England from Scotland down south so that the poor Scots could be charged exorbitant prices to buy it back! He could also have told the president, who said that he wanted Scotland to thrive, that he, the UK Prime Minister, would never ever allow that to happen as England would be screwed if Scotland were to become independent. It is nauseating to say the least watching people letting themselves be humiliated by a convicted felon posing as some sort of messiah. I might not be a member of the SNP anymore but I am still a proud Scot. As such I have to say that I think we are better than all this. Old John Ayrshire
