Hartlepool's Big Town Tidy Up group is planning a mass crackdown on rubbish and here's how you can join in

Members of the ever-growing Big Town Tidy Up group have started a new initiative in which dozens of them turn up en masse in an area of Hartlepool and spend a day tackling litter.

They want to hit every ward in Hartlepool within a year and have already blitzed three parts of town since the start of summer.

Their crackdown in the Burn Valley, De Brus and Headland areas has seen around 100 bags of litter collected so far, and up to 30 people have been turning out to join in the mass clean-up each time.

Now, members have revealed their latest clean-up target and it will be the Marina on Sunday, September 6. Those interested should get along to the car park in front of Jacksons Wharf at 10am.

We first revealed the efforts of the Big Town Tidy Up group in June this year when we told how its membership had reached 1,000 people.

Since then, the group has grown to 1,300 members and one of the group’s founders Jason Bland said: “People see it as a good way of getting out and getting exercise, and clearing their head. It is therapeutic.

"This is the fourth ward clean and we are trying to do them every three weeks. We want to get different communities involved and it is all about community engagement.”

He said the Marina had been chosen as the next target because it had ‘taken a real hit’ with visitors coming to the area and not getting rid of their rubbish properly.

"We will be really happy if we can get 30 or more people turning up on September 6,” said Jason.

As well as the ward cleans, Big Town Tidy Up members are encouraged to litter pick in their own neighbourhoods as often as they like – and the plan is working a treat.

By June, members had taken 4,000 bags of other people’s rubbish off the streets, including a guitar, false teeth, plastic banana skin and laughing gas canisters.

To find out how to join the group visit Big Town Tidy Up on Facebook.

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