Wigan residents encouraged to grab their litter picker for the Great British Spring Clean

Groups can apply for equipment to help their efforts, with Wigan-based Keep Britain Tidy encouraging everyone to pick up at least one bag of litter between now and the campaign’s end on April 2.

This year, the national initiative lands as the local authority refocuses its plans to tackle littering.

Coun Paul Prescott, portfolio holder for environment, said: “Tackling litter and fly-tipping is a real priority for us.

“The council spends an estimated £4m a year clearing litter and fly-tipping from public spaces.

“Not only could this money be much better spent in other ways, if we can reduce the amount of waste dropped and dumped in our borough, it will have a hugely positive impact on our communities and our environment.

“Our litter strategy is all about us working with our local communities; empowering business, residents and schools to keep our borough beautiful.

“So if you’ve been thinking about getting involved- there is no better time than the Great British Spring Clean.

“If you’d like to bring your community, business, school or even a group of friends or family together to do a litter pick, we can help.

"Visit www.wigan.gov.uk/SpringClean to let us know about your litter pick, and we can supply equipment including litter pickers and bags. We can also organise to come pick up your bags when you’re done.”

In addition to supporting community litter picks, the council held a litter pick around Pemberton town centre to launch the Spring Clean, with one also planned at Butts Street, Leigh on Friday, March 31 to close the event.

This campaign runs in conjunction with the day-to-day litter pick collections which are carried out by the Street Scene teams throughout the year.

Coun Prescott, said: “I regularly litter pick and it’s a great opportunity to spend time in my local community and do my bit to make sure it’s somewhere we can all be proud of.

“As well as polluting our streets, parks and beaches, litter harms wildlife, domestic pets and cattle.

“If you do a litter pick and are sharing the photos on social media, please use the hashtag #WigansSpringClean so we can all share in the amazing work of volunteers across our borough.”