PEOPLE can have their say over where clean-ups should take place on the River Aire during two public meetings.

The River C’Aire Project, run by The Aire Rivers Trust and River Stewardship Company, held six pilot clean-ups on the River Aire, Chellow Dene and Bradford Beck during March and earlier this month which attracted 60 adult and children volunteers.

Now Creative Stewardship Solutions, which has also worked on the projects alongside the Environment Agency and Bradford Council, will hold two public events in Keighley and Bingley. The Keighley drop-in will take place on Friday, April 28, between 4pm and 6pm, at Central Hall Cafe, Alice Street,

The Bingley drop-in will be on Thursday, May 4, from 4pm to 6pm, upstairs at the Brown Cow pub, Ireland Bridge.

The Brown Cow was left under five feet of filthy water after the River Aire burst its banks during the Boxing Day floods of 2015.

But after four months of non-stop cleaning and repairs, which cost around £150,000, the pub re-opened in April last year. The clean-up operation included 14 waste skips filled with wrecked furniture and furnishings.

Matthew Hogg, owner of The Brown Cow, welcomed the public drop-in events. He said: “We are happy to support this event.

“The River Aire by us has been cleaned up but it can’t just be something that happens after a traumatic event like then floods, the work needs to be ongoing.

“When you go down the river you can still see then aftermath from the floods. When the river level gets high too, you can also see some debris.”

These meetings will also decide on the exact locations of the clean-up campaigns.

The Keighley clean-ups will be held on Sunday, April 30; Saturday, May 6, and Sunday, May 14.

Clean-up events in Bingley will take place on Saturday, May 20, and Sunday, May 28.

The project aims to encourage people to become stewards of their nearby wild places, creating habitats for wildlife and fantastic places for communities to enjoy.

For more information on the Keighley clean-ups, email KeighleyActionTeam@CreativeStewardshipSolutions.co.uk.

For details on the clean-ups in Bingley, email BingleyActionTeam@CreativeStewardshipSolutions.co.uk.

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