Marathon bar wrapper among litter pick finds in Wickford

Wickford Wombles went to a marathon effort to find this infamous piece of 1980s nostalgia

Chocolate bar wrappers and drinks cans dating from the 1980s have been discovered after a hedge was cut back.

Volunteers from Wickford Wombles litter picking group in Essex collected six bags of rubbish on Tuesday, but were stunned to find 35-year-old labels.

Among them was a Marathon wrapper, which is now known as Snickers, and old Pepsi cans from 1988.

Group founder Tracey Menzies said it was "unfortunately not unusual" to see some items had not degraded over time.

"It's sad to find them - but it's also good to find them, to dispose of them properly after all this time," she said.

Manufacturers Mars changed Marathon to the global moniker Snickers in the UK and Ireland in 1990 - although it reverted to a retro edition for a limited period in 2019.

A Pepsi drink can from 1988 was among the litter pick finds

The can - picked up on Tuesday - had a date of June 1988, meaning it had been in the hedge for almost 35 years

The Wickford Wombles group, which began in 2018, has more than 950 members and the team organises regular litter picking events around the Essex town.

Miss Menzies said the discoveries made some members of the group "historical litter nerdy" and inspired a competitive spirit to see who could find the oldest rubbish during picks.

She said members take some of the items into schools to demonstrate how little they disintegrate over time.

"It makes a mundane job more interesting," she added, "like finding a ring pull can.

"These things were picked up no more than 10 metres from a bin - there may not have been a bin there in 1988, but who knows.

"We found a 1994 glass bottle from our last pick. They're often as good as new."

The team also found 20-year-old drinks cans during their litter pick

The Wombles have already collected more than 2,000 glass bottles in litter picks in 2023 so far, and 353 in one event alone.

The team often find bottles containing small animals that have died in them.

"We have the capability to dispose of this rubbish correctly - but we choose not to," Miss Menzies said.

"The term biodegradable isn't very accurate. Even when cans say 'please dispose responsibly', people don't.

"Plus cellophane and plastic breaks down into tiny clear pieces which are impossible to pick up individually."