The cars are believed to have been there for some years, and were lifted out alongside numerous bikes, shopping trollies and other dumped items.
Clearing rubbish from the UK's waterways costs us over £1million a year, funds that could be better spent on improving wildlife habitats and ensuring the waterways are navigable for boaters.
Over the past five years we have hauled out an unexploded World War II hand grenade, a 16ft dead python, antique poison bottles, a Volkswagen Camper Van and a pizza delivery bike complete with a soggy pizza.
Important for people and wildlife
Nick Worthington, waterway manager at the Canal & River Trust, said: “We knew there was likely to be one car down there, but it's come as a surprise to us that there were another two waiting for us. It's likely that the cars have been down there for a while, but the bikes, trolleys and other junk are more recent, and it's such a shame that people continue to treat the canal as a dumping ground, given how important it is to the people and wildlife in the area.
“More and more people are visiting Gloucestershire's waterways, and it really is up to all of us to keep them wonderful places to be.”
A survey we carried out earlier this year found that a typical ‘tennis court sized' lock contains the following:
- 1x bicycle
- 1x shopping trolley
- 1x traffic cone
- 67x glass bottles
- 4x tyres
- 150x plastic bags
- 23x cans
- 3x windlasses (sometimes known as ‘lock keys')
