NINE old bangers dumped at a Scottish reservoir beauty spot over 30 years ago have finally been removed.
A 38 year-old Vauxhall Carlton, a 35 year-old Vauxhall Astra and a 34 year-old Nissan Prairie were among the haul that has been lifted out of the Lower Glen Dam Reservoir in Gleniffer Braes Country Park.
The rusted illegally dumped vehicles have been left submerged in the water since the 1990s.
Scottish Water has been working with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), the Ayrshire Rivers Trust, and contractors George Leslie Ltd on removal operation which had required “lengthy and meticulous planning”.
The move comes after numerous calls from the local community for the cars to be removed.
The 'classic' car wrecks were revealed after water levels fell in a dry spell last year.
A new park gate has been installed to prevent illegal dumping in future.
Further preventative measures including the installation of barriers around the reservoir are also now being considered by Scottish Water in consultation with Renfrewshire Council.
Scottish Water said it was "now time to act" following a number of concerns from the public about the impact the cars could have on the environment.
Gerry O’Hara, Scottish Water project manager, said: “Protecting the environment, the safety of the twenty-strong team on site and the park-users was paramount for us. This tricky operation was months in the planning to ensure every little detail had been thought of and that we got it right.
“As a result of everyone’s hard work and the meticulous planning and safeguarding that went into this operation, we’re absolutely delighted that the nine vehicles have been successfully recovered.
“Our attention now turns to getting things in the park back to normal for everyone. We’re refilling the reservoir to its original level, in a controlled manner, and we’re continuing to test water quality to ensure there are no issues.
“Mother Nature will take its course and the people of Paisley can once again enjoy this space in a safe manner.”
In the run-up to removal day, the water level of the reservoir was gradually lowered daily to bring it to a workable level that would help mitigate for any possible environmental impact. Rigorous testing and monitoring of the water was carried out on a regular basis.
Additional mitigation measures were put in place to help avoid any impact on the local water environment. A fish rescue was carried out by Ayrshire Rivers Trust and booms were positioned to help soak up any potential contaminants.
Once the reservoir was at a safe level, divers entered the boggy basin to pre-sling the cars in preparation for them being winched from the mud and silt by a recovery truck.
From beginning to end, it took just one day for the nine vehicles to be towed out. They were washed down, inspected by local police and then transported off site – headed for the scrapyard.
The makes and models of the cars uncovered were a Rover 827 (1988); a Citroen AX (1995); a Ford Mondeo (1994); a Citroen XM (1989); a Nissan Prairie (1988); a Vauxhall Astra (1987); a Peugeot 605 (1990); a Vauxhall Carlton (1984); and Fiat Uno (year unknown).
A spokesman for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency said: "Collaborative work between agencies is positive and essential to ensure the environment is considered at every stage.
"Because of the complexity of the removal process, detailed discussions were held between SEPA and Scottish Water.
"SEPA was provided with a risk assessment from Scottish Water ahead of the works, which included steps that would be taken to prevent or minimise pollution to the water environment.
“We are pleased the works passed without incident and steps have been taken to positively improve the local environment.”
Marie McGurk, convener of Renfrewshire Council's communities, housing and planning policy board, said: "I'm delighted to see the work to remove these cars from the Lower Glen Dam Reservoir is complete as we want to protect and improve our environment wherever possible and I know the local community were keen to see the situation resolved.
"It was delicate operation which required a lot of planning and partnership work, but Scottish Water did a great job and the results will benefit the local wildlife and minimise water pollution.
"We will now work with Scottish Water to identify any additional measures required to stop this happening again, with a new gate already in place within the park."
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