CANAL-LOVERS have appealed for people to keep our canals clean, after seeing the amount of rubbish pulled out of the Leeds-Liverpool canal during a police search for a baby.

Police drained the canal and frogmen spent two days pulling rubbish out of the waterway after reports that a woman had been seen throwing a bundle, possibly a baby, into the filthy water.

The divers did not find a baby's body and new witnesses came forward to say they had seen a woman cradling rubbish before throwing it into the canal on several occasions.

But piles of debris were pulled out of the canal, including dozens of traffic cones and road signs, scaffolding poles, bicycles, plastic bags, and a frying pan.

Ruth Symonds, a member of the Inland Waterways Association, who lives next to the canal, said: "The canal is there for everybody to enjoy. You don't need to own a ha'penny to enjoy it. It is a big tourist attraction and brings a lot of people into Blackburn. "We have got to stop the public throwing litter and rubbish into the canal. Even a plastic bag full of leaflets can be a danger to a boat if it gets wrapped around the propeller and big metal items can rip right through a propeller."

Ruth has long campaigned for people to look after the canals and has been involed in many clean-ups, including the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's Grimewatch campaign.

She said: "There are so many activities for people on canals. People can enjoy walking along the towpath, fishing, or cycling, if they have a cycle licence from the British Waterways and there is so much nice wildlife along canal banks. We have got to look after it."

Adrian Blundell of Groundwork Blackburn said they are also keen to encourage people to look after their envrionment.

he said: "We are actively encouraging people to look at how they would like to develop their own emvironment for their benefit and the benefit of others. We have supported river and canal tidy-ups and clearances in the past and want to encourage people to look after their environment."