Two cars, immersed in River Bann for five years, removed in clean-up campaign

The cars, which have been languishing in the river near Portadown for more than five years, were removed on Monday.

Jon Medlow, who single-handedly has spearheaded a clean up of the river and inspired many via his River Bann Clean Up social media campaign, has been lobbying for the cars to be removed for the past six months.

Many local politicians have joined Jon on a kayaking litter pick with hundreds of items of rubbish collected each week.

SDLP Cllr Eamon McNeill said he was delighted to help organise the removal of the two cars.

Cllr McNeill said: “Jon Medlow of River Bann Clean Up has worked tirelessly cleaning rubbish from the river this past number of months. Many have volunteered to help and took to the river in kayaks.

“Leigh Silcock of Friends of the Birches recently joined Jon and asked me last week if there was any way two cars could be removed from the river down behind Ulster Carpets.

“I love a challenge so I discussed how they could be removed with Environmental Dept in ABC Council and just kept pushing until I got a result and they appointed the contractor.

“I had a site meeting last Friday with Joe Watson of Watsons Autos and the plan was to remove the cars on Saturday morning weather permitting. Unfortunately Joe Watson assessed the site early Saturday morning but it was unsafe. Joe was adamant he would get them removed as soon as he could and he didn’t let us down as they were successfully removed early Monday morning.

“I would like to publicly acknowledge the hard work Jon Medlow has done to make the River Bann cleaner and environmentally friendly. I would also like to thank ABC Council staff and Watsons Autos for acting so quickly on my requests.”

https://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/environment/one-man-and-his-kayak-help-clear-tonnes-rubbish-ni-river-1374636A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you