Timothy salvages stolen motorbike from river Foss in York

Timothy Rane has also extracted 32 Morrisons supermarket trolleys, two microwaves, various beer barrels, numerous council signs, cones and bollards.

He collects many of the discarded items on his paddle board.

He has also filled hundreds of bags with rubbish collected from the banksides.

One of his most recent finds was a motorbike that had been dumped in the river just off Huntington Road. “After a lot of heavy lifting and the help of some friendly builders, my nephew Hugo and I recovered it.” He found out it had been reported stolen, and handed it over to North Yorkshire Police.

Timothy is one of a number of volunteers who help to clean the Foss and maintain it as a natural resource for both people and wildlife.

“Volunteering has been a great way to meet new people who are genuinely appreciative of the work we do,” he said.

Everything item found is recorded with the River Foss Society.

“We take it all to York Council’s recycling centre. Some of the bikes I have repaired and they have gone to new homes. We return the trolleys to Morrisons.”

Timothy believes that littering has grown worse during lockdown. “There are a lot of disgruntled people who know that the resources for enforcement are presently limited. However, there are also a lot more volunteer litter pickers tackling it head on and improving the community.

“Lockdown has brought out the worst of the worst behaviours as well as the best of the best.

“I have noticed that the less rubbish there is for people to see, the less rubbish gets thrown into the river, so it is important to keep on top of it. I actively encourage people to get involved and try to keep the river free of underwater obstacles and floating rubbish, to allow it to be returned once again to being navigable by boats, and healthy for nature and wildlife, so that people can enjoy this amazing resource in and around York.”

*Anyone interested in volunteering to tidy up the river should visit riverfosssociety.co.uk