‘Love your West Lancs’ - Council calls on residents and communities to join this year’s Great British Spring Clean

• Keep Britain Tidy’s ‘Great British Spring Clean’ campaign marks 70th anniversary
• Council will support by providing litter picking equipment
• 96% of participants agreed that they felt they had made a difference to their local area following last year’s events

Spring into action this March and make a pledge to be a ‘Litter Hero’ by joining this year’s Great British Spring Clean to ‘Love Your West Lancs’ and keep it tidy and green.

The Great British Spring Clean is an annual national campaign where everyone is encouraged to help clean up local areas where littering has occurred. And as the Keep Britain Tidy organisation is 70 years old this year, we’re asking people to make a #PlatinumPledge to mark the special anniversary such as by litter-picking 70 items or spending 70 minutes in the great outdoors making our communities better places for all.

The Great British Spring Clean campaign runs from 15-31 March. You can choose to pledge as an individual, a group or a school by going to the Keep Britain Tidy website.

West Lancashire Borough Council will support anyone who joins the campaign by providing litter picking equipment and collecting all of the litter that has been collected.

West Lancs is a beautiful part of the northwest and we believe that by working together, as a community, we can reverse the effects of the inconsiderate disposal of rubbish for everyone – small gestures of community spirit can have big effects! Picking up even one bag of litter can bring lots of benefits like reducing risks to wildlife and boosting our community spirit.

Councillor Neil Furey, portfolio holder for Street Scene, said: "Littering is a national problem and one that, if not controlled properly, can have a detrimental effect on the places we live in, work and enjoy, creating potential public health and environmental issues".

"We live in an area of exceptional green spaces, thriving communities and historical towns that we are all extremely proud of. By encouraging everyone to 'pledge to pick' we can counter the culture of a throw away society, and maintain a clean, green environment for everyone to enjoy".

You can find all the information you will need on the Great British Spring Clean website.

If residents would like to get involved as an individual, with a community group or local school, they can contact the Enforcement team at Street.SceneOfficers@westlancs.gov.uk to request equipment.

Anyone visiting the Beacon Country Park can also join in the fun! From 16 to 31 March, visitors can support the Park Rangers by collecting litter pickers and bags from the Coppice Café, 9am to 5pm, to assist in cleaning the site of litter and maintaining one of our most our picturesque green spaces.