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A chair, a lonely stiletto, a fedora, a bike, a traffic cone, an umbrella and some poor person’s handbag... just some of the items found at the bottom of Deansgate Locks.

The city centre waterway has been drained for an annual clean - and it’s a pretty disgusting sight.

These images show the state of the locks, with hundreds of bottles flung into the water alongside all kinds of bizarre objects.

What they found when they drained the canal at Deansgate Locks...

Passersby were astonished to see the sheer amount of rubbish lurking beneath the murky waters.

With the stretch almost completely drained, the accumulation of debris soon became clear as workers from the Canal and River Trust set about trawling through the litter.

Canals throughout Manchester are drained for cleaning each year, with workers donning waders, hard hats and gloves to battle through the mud.

Safety training is also needed as canal water can contain toxic chemicals and diseases, while the silt acts like quick sand.

Aside from dozens of plastic bags, volunteers found scores of pint pots - presumably from the bars on the locks - as well as laughing gas canisters, hundreds of cigarette butts, clothes, plastic drink bottles and beer cans.

A couple of years ago, volunteers found a SOFA in the locks - as well as a bicycle, chain saw, a blow up doll and a laptop.

Every year trust bosses make renewed pleas for people not to dump rubbish in canals - and warn fly-tippers they face hundreds of pounds in fines if they’re caught.

They say sights like these are all too typical and have urged people to help look after the city’s 200-year-old canal system.

But it’s the same story year after year, with fly-tippers - and bar revellers - hurling all manner of objects into the water.

Council bosses constantly remind people not to fling rubbish into the city’s canals and waterways, but hundreds of people continue to do so.

The town hall’s city centre spokesman Pat Karney said: “It’s a disgusting advert for Manchester.

“These selfish people should be ashamed of themselves. It’s appalling. The waterways in Manchester are so rare, they belong to all of us.”