Emily helps to give village a spring clean
Litter-picking family clear grass verges around village
A KIND-hearted young girl took it on herself to do a litter pick of the grass verges near where she lives.
Emily Atakli, 7, from Stoke Golding, decided to clean up the hedges along Higham Fields Lane and Basin Bridge Lane, spending two hours with her family on the project.
They bought their own litter pickers and worked along both sides of a mile stretch of road, filling two large bin bags with cans, plastic bottles and other rubbish.
Mum Rachel said: “She sees the benefit of it and that it’s good for the environment, and that the animals and the fields won’t be poorly.”
They were disappointed to find the next day that two sofas had been fly-tipped by the side of the road in the area.
This was reported to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and the dumped furniture has since been removed.
Rachel said that littering is a constant problem in the lanes near Stoke Golding.
She said: “People must drive out of Hinckley and Nuneaton and the surrounding areas to do it.
“People need to be aware of It’s awful.
“I went out for a run on Upton Lane and within 100 metres there were three separate piles of flytipping.”
The borough council posted about Emily’s good deed on Facebook.
It said: “Emily’s message was to be kind to the environment and “take your rubbish home with you”.
“We wholeheartedly agree and thank Emily and her family for taking on this project.”
Many people left a comment to congratulate the youngster for her work.
One person wrote: “Emily, this is wonderful. How caring you are. I am very proud of you. Well done.” it.
The family lives on a farm in a barn conversion and Rachel said that Emily has always been mindful of the environment.
They hope to do another pick later in the year.
The borough council recently spent over £3,000 clearing up two large fly-tips on rural roads.
One was on Bosworth Road, near Kirkby Mallory, while the other was on Watery Gate Lane, near Earl Shilton.
Both were dumped in February, before the lockdown came into effect, forcing the closure of recycling centres across the county, including Barwell tip.
In recent weeks, officials issued seven fines after rubbish was dumped on the ground near a full recycling bank at Sainsbury’s in Hinckley.
The supermarket said the rubbish has since been removed.
Leicestershire County Council has said that it hopes to reopen its recycling centres in the week commencing May 18. litter