River Bann: Dumping of Bible verse bottles seemingly stops

The story of the bottles caused a stir in the town when it initially emerged.

“We had hundreds of messages on our Facebook page,” he said.

“Some in support, some focussing on what they felt was us trying to lambast religious groups.

“But we stressed throughout this was not about us being anti-religious, it just wasn’t the appropriate way to share that message in 2024.

“It was never about the substance of the message, but it was about how it was being delivered.”

But despite this issue appearing to have been solved, other sources of pollution continue to plague the river.

Last week, volunteers removed 18 shopping trollies, two farm gates and a scooter, among other things, from the water.

Some volunteer river clean-up events have been postponed as, similar to some other waterways in Northern Ireland, blue-green algae has emerged.

“Blue-green algae is a huge challenge for us,” Mr Bratton said.

“It means we can’t take groups out onto the river, it’s too much of a risk to have people in that environment.”