TWO friends are clearing a city canal of rubbish by using heavy-duty magnets.

Geoff Saysum and his pal Alan Evans, aged 23, of Warndon, have been magnet fishing for discarded metal for about a week.

So far, they have recovered 15 trollies, between five to 10 bicycles, scaffolding and even an air rifle from a stretch of the Worcester-Birmingham Canal near Shrub Hill Retail Park on Tallow Hill.

The pair were motivated to carry out the unusual hobby, which uses heavy duty magnets to remove discarded metal items from the canal, after viewing Youtube videos on the hobby.

Mr Saysum, who is studying mechanics at How College Worcester, uses a 60kg magnet on a length of rope to pull items from the canal.

The 19-year-old, of St John’s, said: “I found it interesting- what you can find.

“You find lots of stuff; scaffolding, trollies, and bicycles.

“I wasn’t really surprised by what I found - canals are the worst for dumping stuff.

“Alan found an air rifle just a couple of bridges over - perhaps near bridge four or five.

“I hope I find something interesting soon - it does get boring pushing trollies out.

“I did recently find out that the Canal & River Trust don’t actually like you doing it - but it is doing them a favour.”

A spokesman for the Canal & River Trust said: “We don’t encourage people to do it. People have pulled out sharp objects or really heavy objects.

A father and son recently got into difficulty doing it. One person found a World War II bomb recently. We do see that people get into trouble when they go magnet fishing. As much as we appreciate that people like to do it - it is really about people’s safety.”