Litter pickers frustrated over 'lack of support'

Litter-free Shildon members Rebecca Morton, Clare Bremner, Mark Wilson and Michelle Newbold (pictured left to right), whose group has collected more than 3,000 bags of rubbish

A litter-picking group says it is frustrated not to be getting enough support from local councils or other members of their community.

Litter-free Shildon often finds unwanted furniture, broken electrical items and even drugs paraphernalia, including nitrous oxide canisters, dumped in their town.

The group, which has collected more than 3,000 bags full of litter in the last four years, said each day their hard work was "replenished with more rubbish".

Durham County Council said it had loaned litter-picking equipment and completed a clean-up operation, while Shildon Town Council said it had tried to help in the past.

One of the group's founders, Rebecca Morton, said: "We come out collecting litter every day and every day it's replenished with more rubbish.

"People are lazy and just think if the town is already dirty, it doesn't matter to just throw more litter out on the streets."

Ms Morton said the group had tried to get support from both Shildon Town Council and Durham County Council but it was "just faced with form filling" to borrow equipment and "little practical help".

"I know the councils have a lot of work to do. I'd like us to work together as a team," the mum said.

The group said it accepted there was a wider issue with education and that children needed to be taught "to look after where they live".

Durham County Council neighbourhood protection manager Ian Hoult also enjoys litter-picking and is happy to show off a clean park

Shildon Town Councillor Shirley Quinn said the council had tried to set up litter-picking groups in the past but they folded due to lack of numbers.

She said there were still occasional events but they "don't do it as proactively now".

"Litter is one of the massive things people complain about," Quinn said. "We all have ownership for our own bits of litter, I just wish that people took theirs home."

Durham County Council said it shared concerns around litter and carried out a wide range of work, including providing equipment to community teams and picking up the rubbish they collect.

It said in the past year its civic pride team had loaned about 50 pieces of litter-picking equipment to residents in the Shildon area and recently completed a large-scale clean-up operation.

Neighbourhood protection manager Ian Hoult said the council was "really thankful" for the litter-picking volunteers.

"These sorts of things can't be solved by one person or one agency," he said. "It requires all of us, creating a culture that we want to take pride in where we live."

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