By Sue Crawford

Last updated at 12:52, Tuesday, 30 October 2012

Two van loads of rubbish including a motorcycle battery, odd shoes and a clay pipe have been plucked from the bottom of a Cumbrian lake.

What a haul: Paul Rose with some of the rubbish collected

The major clean-up exercise was part of the British Sub-Aqua Club’s (BSAC) Underwater Litterpick 2012 campaign.

It saw a team of 12 divers taking to the lake at Waterhead, near Ambleside on Windermere.

Their aim was to remove submerged debris which presents a hazard to anyone diving or swimming and threatens the ecology of the popular beauty spot.

A group of schoolchildren are now planning to fashion some of the items collected into figures such as fish and swans, and sell them off for charity.

BSAC’s underwater litterpicks are taking place nationwide until the end of October and the type of rubbish they find is being reported to BSAC headquarters in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, where the information will be collated.

Broadcaster Paul Rose who lives overlooking the lake and is a BSAC member said: “As a keen conservationist I think BSAC’s Underwater Litterpicks are a great idea.

“There’s a big, active diving scene up here in the Lakes, which I am part of myself, and we know from regularly diving in our local lakes and quarries how cluttered with rubbish and debris they can be.”

SCrawford@cngroup.co.uk

First published at 11:32, Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk