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| Vacuum collects tower well cash | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| About £1,500-worth of coins dropped by visitors at an ancient well have been collected by a huge vacuum pump. | About £1,500-worth of coins dropped by visitors at an ancient well have been collected by a huge vacuum pump. |
| Hundreds of visitors are thought to put money down the the 50ft (15.24m) well at Clifford's Tower in York every year as they make a wish. | Hundreds of visitors are thought to put money down the the 50ft (15.24m) well at Clifford's Tower in York every year as they make a wish. |
| On Wednesday, a huge vacuum pump was used to clear the drains. The coins were then jetwashed before being counted by English Heritage. | On Wednesday, a huge vacuum pump was used to clear the drains. The coins were then jetwashed before being counted by English Heritage. |
| In May 2006 a team of abseilers was hired to scoop up the coins. | |
| Claire Hogan, the tower's operations manager, said: "We last emptied the well in May 2006, although it took us nearly two years to clean, sort and count the £1,000-worth of small change in there that had accumulated over 10 years, so we have made a conscious decision to empty the well more often. | Claire Hogan, the tower's operations manager, said: "We last emptied the well in May 2006, although it took us nearly two years to clean, sort and count the £1,000-worth of small change in there that had accumulated over 10 years, so we have made a conscious decision to empty the well more often. |
| "We tried to think of different ways of making the job easier, including putting a net at the bottom of the well that we could hoist up, and indeed, one of the wildest ideas was to somehow suck the coins up in a giant vacuum clear." | "We tried to think of different ways of making the job easier, including putting a net at the bottom of the well that we could hoist up, and indeed, one of the wildest ideas was to somehow suck the coins up in a giant vacuum clear." |
| The device used is a new design by Huddersfield company Eurovac, who offered to collect the coins so they could test out the machine. | The device used is a new design by Huddersfield company Eurovac, who offered to collect the coins so they could test out the machine. |