THE Jaws of Life were used to help in the removal of three badly corroded cars from the Werribee River last week, after concerned residents noticed the vehicles tangled in the banks.

Melton CFA and Melbourne Water contractors removed the car bodies near Cobbledick’s Ford Reserve. Their retrieval follows the launch of Star’s Save Our River campaign.

Crews were able to break the cars into smaller parts to ensure the streamside vegetation was not damaged.

Melbourne Water spokesman Nicolas McGay said the vehicles had been in the river for up to 20 years.

“The area is quite isolated and has become susceptible to this type of large scale dumping,” he said.

“It’s disappointing to see cars, or any rubbish, dumped in the Werribee River. “Much work is done to maintain and improve the health and condition of the river and rubbish is a major impediment to these efforts.”

Melton Environment Group president Daryl Akers said the find was not surprising.

“With the drought, the water flow is much lower and old rusty car bodies are becoming exposed,” he said. “It took the crews several hours to remove them because the rust was embedded into the bank.”

Mr Akers said the vehicles had blocked the river flow and were injuring wildlife.

“It’s a danger to the wildlife and those trying to protect the river,” he said.

“Cobbledicks Reserve was blocked off from vehicles because cars were doing donuts and driving down the steep banks, which caused heavy erosion.