April Fool: Community calls for volunteers to empty the Verulamium Park lake

St Albans residents and friends of the park have organised an event to empty Verulamium Lake for a spring clean.

“The Big Empty” is a call for volunteers to help to clear out all of the water in order to make room for fresh supplies and allow for a good scrubbing of the base of the lake. Participants will meet on the bridge in the park at midday on Monday, April 1.

Organiser, Jeremy Lemon, 46, of Fishpool Street said: “The ongoing problems with the cleanliness of the lake have been a source of controversy, with many criticising the lake management systems.

“We feel that this - the first of many planned initiatives to help improve the water throughout April - is a fair, economical and reasonable way of tackling the problem.”

Derek Fraserhill, 73, of Cottonmill Lane said: “My wife Mavis and I will be heading down there with a mug, a large colander and an old sick bowl, because surely every little helps and a colander is better than nothing.”

However, a local church has agreed to provide buckets for those who do not have one.

A dog walker at Verulamium Park told the Herts Advertiser: “I think it is a brilliant idea. I think the locals will take to it like a duck to water.”

* April Fool! Sorry if we caught you out!