FRIENDS of Grand Union Canal have hosted a litter picking event across 12 miles of the Grand Union Canal from Southall to Paddington.

Led by group founder, David Posnett, a volunteer team of 65 members spent last Saturday, July 24, clearing the Paddington Arm of the canal - which passes through Southall, Greenford, Northolt and Perivale.

That date was specifically chosen as it marks the 220th anniversary of the Arm's opening.

David told Ealing Nub News: "The event was a tremendous success, it's the cleanest this part of the canal has ever looked.

"At the same time, we've also managed to spread the word about the work we're doing and hopefully people will now be more conscious of their rubbish.

"We've also had around 70 or so new members join our Facebook group, which hopefully means more volunteers for future events."

Split across 14 sections of the Paddington Arm, volunteers were split up into groups and cleared a particular section of the canal, overseen by a section leader who was responsible for the equipment.

Friends of Grand Union Canal work closely with the Canal & River Trust which collects all the litter the volunteers have picked.

"We cleared so much rubbish, that the Canal & River Trust is still collecting it a couple of days later.

"This is the biggest litter picking haul we've ever had, I'm very proud of the work our members did," David added.

The litter picking group also works closed with the Inland Waterways Association, who helped them secure funding from the Kusuma Trust in order to purchase equipment for the event.

David said: "Kusuma's help was invaluable, we're very grateful they helped us purchase all the equipment we needed.

"The event was such a huge success, we intend to make it an annual thing, it's a great way of keeping our canal clean and what better way of doing it on the anniversary of the Paddington Arm opening."