Newport litter-pick group find motorbike and vacuum in canal

Darren Rice, founder of the volunteer Newport Canal and Litter Picking Group, pulled out a whole, intact vacuum cleaner – plug still attached and covered in canal water.

In the same fishing session near B&Q and Pets At Home he found a shopping trolley.

Last June, he and other volunteers retrieved a motorbike from the water in Malpas.

The volunteers retrieved a motorbike from Malpas (Image: Darren Rice)

He told the Argus he has also fished up guns, knives and shotgun shells – all of which he swiftly handing in to the police.

Last year, the litter-picking group collected 1,316 full bags of litter from Newport and surrounding areas – an average of more than three per day.

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“You find lots of stuff – you would be surprised,” he said. “I don’t leave anything I get behind. You don’t know who’s going to walk by, so you’ve got to be sensible.

“It’s sad there’s so much litter in the water. Our job is to clean the environment up.

“The trolleys have to be sent back to the shops. The other scrap, I can take it with me and do some good with it.”

Mr Rice returns the trolleys to shops and donates his cut of the scrap metal proceeds to charitable causes (Image: Darren Rice)

Clearing up clutter is not the only noble goal in Mr Rice’s quest. When he gets a cut of the proceeds from his scrap-man friend, he feels inclined to spend the money on food for his local food bank or chocolates for nursing homes at Christmas time.

He also raises funds for the Turner Syndrome Support Society which supports people like his granddaughter.

Turner syndrome is a condition that affects females who are missing one of, or part of, the X chromosomes. It can cause a variety of medical and developmental problems including short height, infertility and heart defects.