VOLUNTEERS are wanted for a canal clean-up this weekend as part of a campaign aiming to tidy up the country in time for the Queen's 90th birthday.

Two events are being held this Sunday to spruce up the Manchester, Bury and Bolton Canal and the surrounding areas.

Members of the Little Britain Anglers (LBA) group and the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Society (MBBCS) have teamed up to arrange the sessions, which will be in Radcliffe and Little Lever.

Their efforts have been inspired by the Clean for the Queen project, which has called on community groups, councils, and schools to tackle litter across the country ahead of the monarch's birthday.

Eric Owen, chairman of the LBA, said: "We thought this would be a really good opportunity to get more people involved in the clean-up process around the canal.

"The Clean for the Queen project is a big campaign which people know about and we have swans on the canal, which are the Queen's birds.

"The aim is to have more people involved with our work and get local residents out there helping to clean up their community.

"It's not just about keeping litter out of the canal, it's just as important to keep the areas around it looking tidy because if they don't then nobody will want to go down there.

"There are big issues around fly-tipping in certain areas but this will just be a simple litter-pick that anyone can get involved in.

"There has been some fantastic work done by MBBCS at Nob End and we've done great work in Radcliffe as well, but there is more work needed in restoring the canal in the future, in order to see it with boats back on."

The groups will be meeting at 10.30am on Sunday, one at the Royal Oak pub car park in Water Street, Radcliffe, and the other at Nob End in Prestolee Road, Little Lever.

For more information, email Mr Owen at ericowen30@mail.com or Steve Dent at dents1@btinternet.com.