An East Lothian man has been hailed as a local "hero" after hauling several Tesco trolleys from the River Esk, as his local community notified his magnet fishing group over social media.
James Peason, 46, is an avid magnet fisher and spends his free time cleaning up around his hometown of Musselburgh, when he was told of the trolleys sprawled in the waters of the River Esk.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, James said: "I live in Musselburgh, and have a Facebook group called Musselburgh magnet fishing.
"My group members usually tell me if the spot something in the water, and I am also notified through the Musselburgh folks group and the Musselburgh street clean group.
"It can be quite labour intensive retrieving the trolleys, as I usually have to lift them from the water and 20 ft up a bridge.
"For me it’s just about doing my bit for the town I’ve lived in all my life, and keeping the wildlife in the river safe from metal debris."
READ MORE - East Lothian Council say clean up operation still underway at polluted River Esk
After being notified through the Musselburgh Facebook group, James posted an update to the community, stating: "All the trolleys have been removed from the bridge area all 7 of them by myself and returned to Tesco."
In the photos, several trolleys can be seen littering the water and tangled up in the foilage next to the river.
After being retrieved, James cleaned them down and returned them to the Tesco trolley area in Musselburgh, much to the community's appreciation.
Over 80 comments were posted on the page, with one Facebook user saying: "That is definitely going above and beyond. Thank you for doing that."
Another showed their appreciation, saying: "Well done, great community act."
A third comment read: "Well done James , the world is a much better place with guys like you around."
And a further comment agreed, stating: "Well done James, you’re a good man."
James also added that this wasn't the first time he has pulled trolleys from the body of water, stating: "In the last 6 months I’ve probably pulled around 60 trolleys out of that area of water."
Earlier today, Edinburgh Live reported that East Lothian Council and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) issued an update on the ongoing pollution problem in the River Esk.
The problem which was first reported on Friday January 14 in Musselburgh has led to a massive clean up effort by the local authority and environment agency.
The council has revealed that in the past few days, a specialist contractor has been brought in to support the clean-up attempts by installing and renewing booms in the watercourse that help to contain contamination.
Alongside this, the work has allowed for a tanker to access the impacted area in order to remove as much polluted material as possible.
It is understood that work has also been carried out in order to remove contaminated material from manholes that will allow for SEPA to undertake camera investigations.
A temporary weir has also been put in place and it is believed that officers continue to keep an eye on the area in person.
The council say that although good progress has been made, they note that residents may still spot contaminated residual material in the water/downstream. It is understood that this may take days to clear.
They also urged members of the public, in the interest of health and safety, to avoid areas where officers/contractors are working.
