Staff from South Hams District Council have been out and about in the community helping with community litter picks, as part of the Great British Spring Clean.

The council offered help to several litter picking events taking place across the district during Britain’s favourite environmental charity’s clean-up campaign.

The council provided bags and litter picking equipment for picks, and council staff joined the arranged litter pick events.

The campaign, which ran last month, calls on people across the UK to show they love where they live by taking part in the mass action litter pick.

Cllr Julian Brazil, Lead Member for Waste and Recycling, said: “Our communities did a wonderful job throughout the Great British Spring Clean, and it’s great that our staff were able to support their efforts.

“Dozens of bags of litter were cleared up from several areas, including litter picks at Yealmpton, Ivybridge, Diptford, and even a litter pick with school children at Stoke Gabriel Primary School.

“It is frustrating that people need to hold events like this – I would ask everyone living in and visiting the South Hams to take litter home with them. Littering is a crime and can incur a fine.

“The events were a huge success and we look forward to seeing if we can support more events for next year’s campaign.”

Nationwide, Keep Britain Tidy’s 585,038 litter heroes pledged to collect 451,887 bags during The Great British Spring Clean 2026.

More than 585,000 volunteers in every corner of the country took part in the national effort to remove bags of rubbish from our streets, parks and beaches and protect our wildlife.

At the same time, thousands of pupils in schools across the country took part in the Great Big School Clean, learning about the impact litter has on our wildlife and seeing for themselves that small actions, when taken together, can make a big difference.