The man tackling fly-tipping one bin bag at a time

From mattresses to fridge-freezers, Mr Dunn says that fly-tipping in his area is a 'real problem'

Armed with a hi-vis jacket and an armful of bin bags, one man has dedicated his time to picking up over 3,000 bags of rubbish over the last four years.

Will Dunn, 57, frequently patrols the roads, estates and green spaces of Sully and Lavernock, sometimes spending up to six hours a day litter-picking.

He gets regular deliveries of a minimum of 250 bin bags at a time from the Vale of Glamorgan council, directly to his doorstep in Sully.

Among the tonne of bottles, cans and fast-food wrappers he has picked up over the years, he has also collected 49 number plates, a fire extinguisher, a six-foot diameter giant articulated tractor type wheel and a rusty milk churn.

Speaking about how the litter-picking began, Mr Dunn said: "I was walking back from Cosmeston Lakes Country Park along the main road, and had to move off the pavement and into the road itself because of the amount of rubbish filling the street.

"It really got to me, especially as we'd just had Covid restrictions eased, so I was walking a lot.

"It was bleak."

Mr Dunn has had to find other methods to carry particularly heavy items, such as using a rug to drag them down the street

Mr Dunn has even had to use an old rug to pull some of the heavier items he has found, to move them to an area where he arranges with the council for them to pick it up.

He said: "You have to be reasonably fit to pick some of this stuff up.

"The giant tyre, a giant TV set, which was about four to five foot long, cupboards, chairs, tables.

"I had to use an old rug to make it easier to move and drag things."

He lines up the rubbish he finds for the council to collect

Mr Dunn said the environment seems to have thanked him for his efforts to help clean up the streets, as the greenery surrounding the affected areas, like the number of hedges that used to be filled with debris, seem to be growing well.

"The hedges and the greenery started to grow differently, they'd be slanted and basically ruined by the heavy things that had been dumped there.

"Now they're starting to grow back like they used to." he said.

The 57-year-old was nominated for a Community Champion prize by Bro Radio, and will find out if he won 1st, 2nd or 3rd place on 7 June.

He said how his time spent volunteer litter-picking helps the community.

"It benefits everyone. It may have started from my walk back home from the park, but what I do, it's for everyone.

"I'll be walking to the library, or somewhere for a coffee and I'll have to walk past all this overflowing rubbish thinking, why?"

"Sometimes the bags are so heavy, I look like a snail plodding along.

"But I get there eventually."