16144/1A TEAM of volunteers from Marlborough College took advantage of the abnormally low levels in the River Kennet to give a stretch in the town centre a spring clean on Wednesday last week.

Members of the college's Conservation Group donned waders to get into the river and remove accumulations of rubbish.

They tackled the stretch of the Kennet between the Priory Gardens and Waitrose car park.

Kennet District Council sent along a clean-up crew to help the students and to take away the rubbish removed from the river.

The river clearance was co-ordinated by Action for the River Kennet. Charlotte Hitchmough from ARK said: "You would not believe the rubbish the students pulled out. In just one hour we had two traffic cones, a road sign, part of a shopping trolley, builders' rubble and lots of plastic bags, cans and bottles."

At one stage, said Mrs Hitchmough, the students thought they had come up with gold.

"The team even found a bag of jewellery," she said.

"We thought we might have struck gold but it turned out to be all plastic."

The ARK spokeswoman said that as well as making the river environment look untidy, the rubbish was a hazard to the wildlife on and in the river.

Mrs Hitchmough said: "Clearing it up has made a great improvement to a neglected asset in Marlborough."