Lichfield litter pickers collect a tonne of rubbish a month

Masks and gloves were now adding to the litter problem, said chairman Bob Harrison

More than a tonne of rubbish is being collected by volunteers each month from the parks and streets of a Staffordshire city.

The Lichfield Litter Legends group has about 80 members volunteering for the collections, it said.

About 160 bags of dumped waste are being recovered every month.

At one woodland site, a volunteer recently reported finding more than 200 cans, along with drugs paraphernalia and a bucket of dead baby rats.

Bob Harrison has also written a book he hopes will educate young children about litter

"Dozens" of face masks and plastic gloves were also being picked up daily, said chairman Bob Harrison.

The group was initially formed by a "handful" of people in the Curborough area of the city about 12 months ago, and had "changed beyond all recognition since then", said the retired 70-year-old.

"I joined the group earlier this year and had a vision not to just clean up the city but to protect wildlife and educate children as well."

Volunteers from the group also helped clear rubbish left at the site of an illegal rave in nearby Brookhay Woods, attended by more than 500 people.

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Sharon Coleman, 56, who went along to the clean-up, said they had retrieved "absolutely thousands" of nitrous oxide canisters.

"People think it's just a few crisp packets in the wind, but it's more than that," she said.

"We also find nice things. One of our members recently pulled something out of a hedge that contained some very special medals.

"It would be great to get them back to their owner."

Group member Ali Turner pulled the medals out of a hedge