More than 4,000 pieces of litter picked on mountain

Volunteers have collected more than 4,000 items of litter and plastic from Wales' highest mountain in one weekend.

The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) clean-up event saw 50 volunteers and eight professional mountaineers hike and abseil to retrieve the litter from Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, which included sweet and crisps packets, bottles and cans and even some cowboy hats.

The annual event saw more rubbish collected than last year - 4,603 items in total, compared to 2,765 in 2024.

Alec Young, Eryri National Park Authority's carbon officer, said it had been a "successful weekend".

The BMC clean-up took place around the upper Glaslyn bowl, near the popular Pyg Track walking route, where 4,282 items were picked.

Some 321 items of rubbish were also collected from Pen y Pass car park and along the Pyg and Miners' tracks.

Lucozade bottles, Red Bull cans and Walkers crisp packets were the most prevalent brands found.

Some of the strangest items collected were a five pound note, a scallop shell, a "50 and fabulous" banner, two cowboy hats, bashed-up binoculars, an empty wallet, a fully-working camping stove, the hat from a Blaze Bear toy, a camera lens, a cuddly toy bus, a high-quality portable speaker, a collapsible dog bowl, an umbrella and a pair of hiking boots.

The organisation analyses the rubbish and uses the data to lobby the government for changes in legislation, for example to back up the Deposit Return Scheme scheduled for 2027, and to bring in Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) where brands must pay a fee for every item of single-use pollution found in the UK's most beautiful places.

The team found that 70% of the rubbish was single-use items, with 30% being confectionary wrappers.

About 5% was outdoor gear that was likely accidentally dropped, such as caps, rucksack rain covers, jackets and an OS Map of the area.

Alec Young, Eryri National Park Authority's carbon officer said it was good to see how organisations working together could achieve positive results, adding the authority would "continue to focus on keeping the mountain clean through projects like this".