A portable toilet, a red children?s slide and a folding picnic table were just a few of the more unusual things volunteers recovered during a South Shore beaches clean-up over the weekend.

Volunteers from accounting firm Deloitte & Touche donned gloves and toted trash bags from 9 a.m. until 12 noon on Saturday in an effort to help clean up Warwick Long Bay, Chaplin Bay, and Jobson?s Cove, as well as many of the paths behind the beaches, almost three months after Hurricane Fabian devastated the South Shore. The volunteers filled almost three Parks Department trucks with trash.

?It was fabulous,? said Parks Department planner Drew Pettit of the clean-up.

?Having 20 to 30 people being able to hand pick through the bushes ? we just don?t have the resources for that. It was the volunteer work we really need post-Fabian.?

Organised by attorney Lindsay McCann, the clean-up also featured ribbons hidden in the bushes which won volunteers large prizes such as brunch for two at The Reefs.

As many of the unlucky volunteers mistook the ribbons for trash and threw them out, it was fortunate that smaller prizes were also on hand, with everyone winning a prize by the end of the morning.

Much of the trash picked up by volunteers was ?the regular flotsam and jetsam?, according to Mr. Pettit. However there were also many used glow sticks, shoes, boat cushions, a large metal buoy and some chairs among the trash.

?And it seems the favourite beer of Bermudians is Heineken,? said Mr. Pettit.

The volunteers themselves said the job was done partly as an effort to help forge a sense of office spirit. Volunteers worked in teams and, as one pointed out, you certainly get to know a person after digging through the bushes for trash with them all morning.

Lunch at Tio Pepe afterwards also helped with the office spirit.

Mostly, however, the 28 volunteers just wanted to help clean up their home. ?We all use these beaches,? said one. ?We?re just trying to take care of our backyard.?