ONE of the region's best-known rivers is to look a lot cleaner after the launch yesterday of two vessels to remove debris.
The Clean Tyne project has spent £262,000 buying two boats to patrol the river and keep the waterway tidy - The Clearwater, which removes larger objects from the riverbed, and the twin-hulled Sita Eater, which clears away the flotsam and jetsam floating on the surface.
The Clearwater, which is fitted with a crane and can remove objects as big as a car, was named by schoolchildren Rebecca Pye, of Marsden Primary School, in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and Emma Bowes, of Heworth Grange School, Gateshead, who both chose the same name.
The Clean Tyne project is led by the Port of Tyne and managed by Gateshead Council.
The vessels replace the Eager Beaver, which has kept the river clean for the past 15 years.
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