Digging deep to tidy village pond

A digger had been hired to clear out the village pond to the south east of St Nicholas Road and Mr Marriott, a parish councillor and farmer, donned his overalls to help out.

He used a chainsaw to cut back bushes around the pond before the driver from dredging specialists Blue Boar Contracts of Dunchurch carried out the work, which was funded by the council.

Mr Marriott said: “In farming you have all the right gear but this was magnificently the right gear.

“The work was very nicely done and very skilfully done, it was the sort of work which needed to be done by people that have done that sort of thing before otherwise you could get into a real mess.”

The pond was once an old marl pit, which was bought by the parish council in 1993 as an amenity to attract wildlife and to be enjoyed by walkers.

Mr Marriott said: “Since then it has partially silted up but also the plants had overgrown and the water was no longer apparent.

“A lot of people said how nice it was that the work was getting done.

“The pond will give many people many years of enjoyment.”