A dive survey of 200m of the River Derwent south of Derby was carried out (July 2004) in response to a number of complaints from angling clubs and the parish council that a large number of cars had been dumped in the river. A public highway runs alongside the river at this location and vehicles, some of them stolen, had been deliberately disposed of into the river.
By the end of the survey, nine cars, and one lorry chassis, a fridge, three safes and a handgun had been found. On 2nd August 2005 Lower Trent Environment Management officers and Operations Delivery team members from Lower and Upper Trent plus Thames Region’ Dive team descended on the site. By the end of the day 4 whole cars, 4 part cars and the lorry chassis had been removed for recycling at a local metal recycling site.
Speaking about the operation, Mark Cunningham, Environment Management Team Leader, said: ‘The operation was a great success. While we do not have a direct responsibility to remove vehicles dumped in rivers, we had become concerned about the amount of vehicles and the threat they posed to flood management and water quality. We have been waiting for the conditions which would allow us to carry out this operation as safely as possible and the river is now a better place.’ In partnership with the Highways Authority road barriers have now been installed to restrict the dumping of vehicles in the future. |
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