Hopes for a clean city despite increase in litter

"Irrespective of the litter we pick up, it has a good social impact," says chair of the group, Harry Machin

"We're trying to move from 'clean-up Peterborough' to 'keep Peterborough clean'," a litter-picking group said, as it spoke about the "massive growing problem" of rubbish around the city.

Harry Machin, chair of Peterborough Litter Wombles Association, said although the number of volunteers helping to keep the city clean was growing, so was the number of items being fly-tipped.

The group collected about 3,000 bags of litter between June 2023 and May this year, and recently celebrated the success of its "lamp-post bins".

However, more preventative measures have been called for to keep litter off the streets for good.

The group aims to recycle some of the items they find, like golf balls, so they can be re-used

"We've got more and more people doing more to keep litter off the streets and out of vegetation," Mr Machin said.

"On the other hand, there's more litter because fast food doesn't stop, the throwaway society doesn't stop... and we have had the worst month for fly-tipping on record.

"It's too easy for people... and that's where enforcement should come in, but we are constantly told enforcement is really difficult."

He hoped the introduction of new fly-tipping cameras would have an impact, but acknowledged a lack of resources and funding meant volunteers were often stepping in to plug a gap.

'Good social impact'

The group was set up in April 2021 and now has about 1,300 members from all walks of life.

As well as helping the environment and being a "satisfying" hobby for some, the group has also become a community in itself.

Mr Machin said: "The sheer diversity of the people who get involved is brilliant and it's all age groups as well.

"Irrespective of the litter we pick up, it actually has a good social impact as well because it gives some people a sense of agency."

A spokesperson for Peterborough City Council said: "We are fully committed to cleaning up litter and want to highlight that despite our best efforts and those of local voluntary groups, it continues to be a problem which everyone has a part to play in tackling.

"We have worked with the Litter Wombles to install new bins following their trial and also held a series of organised litter picks across the city as part of the Great British Spring Clean in March.

"We would encourage anyone to report littering and fly-tipping to us."