Members of Bermuda Sub-Aqua Club discovered a bounty of trash as they cleaned up St. George's Dock on Saturday.

Eleven divers and four support members recovered three shopping trolleys, three pedal cycles, a dumped scooter, several tyres and even a park bench in the water between King's Square and Ordnance Island.

The divers used lift bags to lift up the heavier items and worked between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. removing them. They worked in rainy, windy conditions in low visibility amid Portuguese Man-o-War.

In addition to the larger items they discovered old hoses used for boat repairs, a boat battery, numerous cans, bottles, plastic cups, ash trays and cutlery.

Deputy mayor of St. George's Kenneth Bascome, who called on the dive club to help, said: "I would like to thank BSAC on behalf of the Corporation of St. George's and the community.

"It just shows how we as human beings are not really respectful of our environment at times.

"The weather was quite threatening on Saturday but a lot of people turned out to help and they accomplished much."

BSAC chairman Daron Skipper said: "It has been very successful. We worked to a distance of 20ft out and managed to clear all the large stuff. We were surprised at the amount of trash, particularly the trolleys and bikes."

Diving officer Gillian DeSilva added: "The clean-up allowed us to use skills we don't normally use, such as lift bags and moving large items through the water.

"We hope to be involved in more things like this throughout the year."

Also on Saturday, residents of St. George's volunteered their time to clean up the roadsides of the East End. Following a plea for help by Mr. Bascome, members of the community took to the streets with their bags and boxes.

Those taking part in St. George's Clean-Up Day included Olga Rankin, Tania Stafford, Barry Road, Ray and Kay Latter, Mario Defrias, Charles Grant, Margaret Emmott and Jill Raine.

Local artist Ms Raine said: "Most of the garbage collected consisted of beer bottles. People seem to be throwing the bottles into the bushes out of their car windows.

"It is a hard challenge to try to stop people from doing this but we believe it can be solved."

Want to learn to dive and meet new people? Log onto: www.bsac.bm or email: chairman@bsac.bm. BSAC is a charity and is part of the British Sub-Aqua Club. It runs diving qualification courses and social events throughout the year.

Potential new members can also check out the club social evening from 8 pm on Wednesdays at the BSAC Clubhouse, Admiralty Park, Spanish Point (pink building).