'I litter pick to make my village a better place'

Ben borrows equipment from the parish council for his weekly litter pick

A 12-year-old boy has begun picking up litter in his village after seeing a "horrendous" amount of rubbish while on a dog walk.

"It just annoyed me because this is a beautiful village and there was so much rubbish, it looked horrible, disgusting," said Ben.

Once a week, he goes out with a black bin bag in the Cambridgeshire village of Yaxley, near Peterborough, and stays out until he has filled the bag.

"Some people are happy to see me and some people are annoyed - I had a beer can thrown at me once which was not nice; I still went and picked it up," he said.

"But another bought me a portion of chips and a drink because they were pleased - I just want to make Yaxley a better place."

Ben and mum Ann have been involved in community litter picks in the past, as seen here a few years ago

Mum Ann Rowell, 46, said the inspiration for the weekly litter pick came on a family dog walk one evening a couple of months ago.

"It was really bad in one area and he was adamant he was going home and getting his equipment," she said.

"I said, 'no we need to get ready for school the next morning', but he got it in his head that's what he was going to do."

Ben hopes eventually fewer people will drop litter

Ben has taken part in community litter picks since he was a Beaver aged five and he uses parish council-supplied equipment.

His goal with his solo efforts is to reach a day when he does not fill the bin bag.

"I want to see more people litter picking, I want to see less people dropping litter, I want to see my village and villages over the country with cleaner environments," he said.

"And that includes the entire world, I want everywhere to be cleaner because then the environment won't go downhill."