A group of anglers have cleaned up a Birkenhead fishing lake after they said that a rise in interest in the past time has caused problems around the area.

Coarse fishing was one of the first permitted activities allowed by Wirral Council, following the easing of lockdown restrictions.

As a result, people have been flocking to Birkenhead Park lake, some for the very first time, to try their hand at the popular activity.

But Mark Knapman, who is a regular at the park, says that the sudden surge in participants has been to the detriment of the area.

He told the Globe: "A significant level of negativity has come to light towards local anglers in the park, as a small minority of people are plainly disregarding the park environment by leaving rubbish and litter and not using the bins provided, or simply not taking their rubbish home.

"We have recently heard many people say fishing should be banned because of all the rubbish and the discarded line that is left in the water causing harm to animals and birds in the surrounding park.

"As a keen and regular angler at Birkenhead Park I couldn’t just sit there and let the fishing activity possibly be banned just because of the actions of a small minority of people who decided to take up fishing during the lock down and who neglected the natural beauty of the park."

Mark decided to arrange a clean up of the lake on Sunday (July 5), putting up posters around the park in advance. A group of around 20 people rose to the challenge on the day, with a mix of local anglers and park lovers coming together to undo a lot of the mess that had been caused by others.

Among the items retrieved from the lake included bikes and a shopping trolley.

Mark added: "Allowing this situation to continue could mean the loss of a much loved sport at Birkenhead Park for the serious and responsible anglers.

"We would also like to thank Luke Meadows at Parkfields Angling Centre in Meols who supplied all the equipment to allow this clean up to take place."