Two teenagers who are completing their gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards have been busy clearing the Beccles scores to improve access to the river.

Seventeen-year-old Nicholas Ball and Daniel Topping, also 17, have been volunteering with the River Waveney Trust as part of the six-month volunteer work they need to complete for their awards.

The pair, who are studying at Easton College and Sir John Leman High School Sixth Form Centre, have been working with trust members to cut back the vegetation and paint an anti-slip coating onto the new quay heading at the bottom of the scores. There will be volunteering once a week until the work is done.

Beccles mayor Caroline Topping said: “The scores are quite important for people to be able to visit the river because a lot of land is privately owned until you get down to the quay. They have been cutting back the vegetation to make them more accessible but have been doing it sympathetically so there are still places for birds to nest.”