​Halton Borough Council, Cheshire Police, residents/volunteers, joined together for a community clean up of Spike Island, on Sunday, showing it, in the words of the Stone Roses, who played there in 1990, ‘One Love’!

Helpers included Cllrs Pamela Wallace, Stan Hill and June Roberts, Widnes PCSOs and Keiron Gordon and volunteers from Keep Widnes Tidy.

It was supported by Keep Britain Tidy and part of Halton Borough Council’s #LoveHaltonsPark campaign which officially starts at the end of the week.

PCSO Steven Hill, who along with colleague PC Gary Ellison organised the event, said: “I saw wildlife suffering with the litter in the water, and thought it was time to take action. We had a lot of positive feedback from resident in the area.”

“It’s always good to chat to local people too, find out if they are experiencing any problems we can help with.”

Halton Borough Council’s Executive Board Member for the Physical Environment, Cllr Ron Hignett, said: “Our Park Officers took a boat and cleared a lot of rubbish from the water, which was threatening the swans and geese. All in all it was a successful day.

“We hope people will now respect it and not throw their rubbish on the floor or into the water. Parks officers cannot be there all the time and should’t have to spent time cleaning up after litter louts.”

People have been leaving litter in the car parks in particular, including Nitrus Oxide canisters, and drug waste was found around the park during the clean up.

Police also security marked ten bikes and gave out anti-theft advice at the event, which took place from 11am to 1pm.

Halton Borough Council is launching its #LoveHaltonsParks campaign this week, with partners including #KeepBritainTidy to encourage people to use our parks responsibly.

Spike Island takes its name from the area of land that lies between the Sankey Canal and the estuary of the River Mersey. The area contains parkland, woodland, a path along the canal and is next to the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre, the only science museum in the UK solely devoted to chemistry.

It was the site of a famous outdoor concert by The Stone Roses in May 1990. A film about the concert called Spike Island was released in 2012 and a tribute concert planned for this summer was delayed due to the pandemic.