Now 200 councils join battle to clean up Britain

MORE than 200 councils across the nation have embraced the Great British Spring Clean.

The huge boost to the campaign comes as 73,000 people signed up to clean up.

Local authorities ranging from some of the biggest in the land to little parish councils have come out to support the voluntary clean up. They said they will give out litter pickers and bags to community groups who will blitz their local areas.

In all, there are now more than 2,300 organised litter picking events listed, ensuring that scores of beaches, parks, streets and fields will be scoured for rubbish.

The litter picking event by Keep Britain Tidy and backed by the Daily Mail – taking place between Friday March 20 and Monday April 13 – is aiming to recruit a million-strong army of readers after nearly 600,000 got involved last year.

Judging by the phenomenal response in the first few days, it is well on the way. Councils up and down Britain are pledging their support – adding their voices to organisations including the National Trust, the Women’s Institute and the Church of England.

They include Bristol, York, Milton Keynes, Leeds, Oxford, Peterborough and Rochdale.

So far 180 MPs have also signed up to back the campaign, as well as Boris Johnson and Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers.

In Lancaster, the council has 400 litter pickers at the ready. Last year volunteers there contributed 596 hours of rubbish clearing. In Sheffield, councillor Mark Jones said the city was ‘blessed with volunteers’ who care deeply.

The initiative comes at a time when caring for our environment has never been more vital. As well as the threat to the natural world, litter costs around £800million each year to clean up – money that could be better spent on schools or the NHS. The Daily Mail has long battled against the scourge of litter with its Turn The Tide on Plastic campaign.

Manchester will host a grand launch event for the litter blitz that will echo an Olympic torch relay – with litter heroes carrying a golden litter picker into the city centre. Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar said: ‘We’ll be helping residents, community groups, businesses and schools to organise cleanup events all over the city, spreading the word and encouraging as many as we can to take part.’

Allison Ogden-Newton, of Keep Britain Tidy, said yesterday: ‘It’s inspiring to see so many councils getting behind the Great British Spring Clean.’

TURN THE TIDE ON PLASTIC