Leamington canal cleaned up by plastic picking paddling pair

Megan Hoskin and Siriol Griffiths, known as Dare Two Do, are paddling the length of the Grand Union Canal from Birmingham to London in a giant litter-picking mission.

In total, they fished almost 250 items from the canal on a 2.5 mile stretch through Leamington.

The worst offenders were plastic wrappers, plastic bottles and polystyrene.

Travelling in packraft - a cross between a kayak and a blow up raft - the pair are wild camping as they go as well as relying on the kindness of strangers.

Megan said: “We decided to undertake this expedition in order to highlight the problem of what we are throwing away.

“We were pretty shocked at what we found on such a beautiful stretch of the Grand Union Canal”, added Siriol.

The two hope that their efforts will lead to people thinking twice before discarding their rubbish.

In June the duo will be rowing across the Pacific Ocean as part of the Pacific Terrific ocean rowing team.

They will be raising money for the charity Mind, as well as raising awareness of plastic pollution in our oceans.