Retiree travels on free bus pass to pick litter

Ruth Major said her litter picking odyssey had given her a new lease of life

A retired teacher is using her free bus pass travel to take herself on a personal crusade to pick up litter across England.

Ruth Major, 79, from Redruth, Cornwall, was inspired by a campaign in France to pick up one piece of litter a day and has since collected about 100,000 pieces of rubbish.

In July and August, she used her senior bus pass to travel on 59 buses from Redruth to Berwick upon Tweed.

Along the way she visited many towns and cities, including Weymouth, Southampton, Derby, Sheffield, Scarborough and Newcastle.

Ruth Major was inspired by a campaign in France

She then returned home via Manchester and Oldham.

"It was brilliant," she said. "I had a lovely time, met lots of wonderful people and saw great places I've never been to before.

"There's millions of people in this country. If we all did a bit, we'd make a massive difference."

The former teacher said her campaign had given her a "new lease of life".

Ms Major added she had been given the nickname "Rubbish Ruth" from some schoolchildren who saw her picking up litter outside their school.

She said: "I challenged them every so often and one of them said to me, 'you're the rubbish lady'.

"I thought that was perfect and decided to call myself that."

Ruth Major is planning another litter mission in 2024

She is also active on social media, where she shares her experiences and photos of her litter-picking adventures.

"I don't know how many people I've influenced, but even if I've influenced one person it makes a difference," she said.

Ms Major, who is planning another litter mission with her bus pass next year, joked: "I get notifications all the time, it's terrible being famous."