WAVERLEY countryside rangers have been getting ‘down and soggy’ to help carry out repair works on the River Wey in Farnham.

The rangers, who were joined by volunteers and representatives from Surrey Wildlife Trust, Farnham Town Council, Farnham Rivers Group and the Environment Agency, carried out essential works to reinforce areas of the river bank at Gostrey Meadow and Borelli Walk.

The group used locally sourced wooden posts and faggots to carry out the reinforcement works, which will also narrow the river, under guidance from the Environment Agency’s fisheries officer Adrian Bicknell.

Mark Collings, Waverley green spaces contract officer, who helped organise the works, said: “Narrowing in the river will help to speed up the flow and allow the silt to be cleared and the original gravel river bed to be exposed.

“This will help to increase the health of the river allowing fish and invertebrate populations to increase.

“The revetments are environmentally friendly because they reinforce the bank while allowing fish and invertebrates to use them as an alternative habitat in the River Wey.”