The Alloa Park Residents' Association (APRA) has submitted a 65-page application for a £10,000 grant to clean the River Black Devon between Clackmannan's Mary Bridge and Alloa's Pond Wood.

The fly tipping small grant scheme is being administered by Keep Scotland Beautiful on behalf of Zero Waste Scotland to support landowners and community groups in Scotland who have experienced persistent problems of flytipping. It aims to help remove problems of flytipping at more than ten locations between October and January next year, and prevent the issue reoccurring.

APRA became aware of the grant after a local resident highlighted the enormous amount of waste clogging the river.

Much of the rubbish is inaccessible due to its location and has been in place for many years with items including a yellow Mini, dozens of shopping trolleys, washing machines, boilers, bikes, tractor tyres and more.

APRA chair and local resident Graham Clyde said, "We were determined to make the application as high a standard as possible to maximise our chances of being successful.  "We have excellent support from Gordon Banks MP, Keith Brown MSP, The Earl of Mar and Kellie, the local community police officer, the council waste services department and also Councillor Mark English, who used to fish in the river in his younger days." The council waste services department are unable to collect and dispose of the waste primarily due to the significant health and safety issues around accessing the water and negotiating the steep and challenging banks along the river. However Clackmannanshire Council waste education officer, Jacqueline Reid, has helped the group pull the application together and offered support throughout.

Oran Environmental Solutions Ltd based in Grangemouth, has also been brought in by the residents to undertake the retrieval and disposal work of what is estimated to be up to 20 tons of rubbish along the two mile stretch of the river. Mr Clyde continued, "Oran ES have been instrumental in pulling the application together and have offered a significant reduction in their costs, which we are delighted about as it highlights their commitment to working with the local communities in which they work.

"We understand that the council don't have the budget to clean the fly tipped waste from the river so with this application we can work with the council and the other stakeholders to make this small part of the county more beautiful for us all." Rowena Miles, Oran ES business development manager for Scotland said, "We are delighted to be able to work with the residents to help make this small part of Alloa more enjoyable for everyone who lives here.

"Oran Environmental Solutions Ltd is committed to working with local communities and hope that APRA is successful in their application to Keep Scotland Beautiful." The group will hear if the application has been successful by the end of September and it is hoping to complete the work by the end of October if selected.

More information can be found at www.alloapark.org