THE mystery of how a number of bicycles were left in the middle of the River Wye in Hereford has been solved.

Many theories were put forward after Graham Bennett took this picture and explained how he had, unsuccessfully, tried to get the bikes removed.

But the definitive answer was provided by Gary Waring who runs the nearby Left Bank complex.

He told the Hereford Times that canoeists found the discarded bikes in the county’s biggest waterway and left them at one of the bases on the Old Bridge.

Mr Waring added that his staff planned to complete the clean-up job by launching a boat to recover the bikes and then take them away for re-cycling.

Mr Bennett said that despite speaking to the police, Herefordshire Council and Balfour Beatty he made such little progress that he was forced to give up in his efforts to get the bikes taken away.