The River Buddies group has held its first event in a push to tackle pollution in streams in the island.

The group, similar to the its partner the Beach Buddies charity, aims to clean up the island’s rivers by removing rubbish from their banks.

The group kickstarted this task by collecting items from the river Douglas.

A group spokesperson said: ‘Among the things found were two supermarket shopping trolleys, parts of a pram and the remains of three tents.

‘They were found on a 600m stretch of riverbank and footpath between the middle river industrial estate and the Nunnery, together with a large number of familiar items such as plastic bottles, tin cans, fast food containers, food wrappers and bags containing dog waste.

‘The first event was held in very cold conditions and attracted only a handful of volunteers, but their impact on the area was exceptional, and it has resulted in the area being clear of rubbish for the first time in many years.’

Beach buddies founder Bill Dale said: ‘We only had a small number of volunteers but the impact they made was enormous.

‘It shows that there is a big problem with rubbish being left close to our rivers and we’re keen to go to any accessible river bank on the island to tackle this issue.’

Further events are planned in the near future and River Buddies is welcoming reports of rubbish on riverbanks and nearby footpaths by email at [email protected]