Chesterfield litter pickers collect 200 bags of rubbish dumped at popular walking trail

Eight members of the Chesterfield Litter Picking Group descended on the Five Pits Trail, near Holmewood, where they cleared up the large haul of rubbish over the course of five days.

The group then followed that up this weekend by taking part in the The Great British Spring Clean, also in Holmewood.

They been praised by North East Derbyshire District Council (NEDDC) as one of several ‘amazing community-spirited groups’ working to tidy up our streets and paths.

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Tracey Clifford founded the group after becoming fed-up with seeing litter in the area.

After getting in touch with NEDDC, council teams were able to loan her litter picking equipment to get the group up-and-running.

Tracey said: “Since lockdown, the rubbish has been absolutely horrendous – really bad. So there’s always plenty to pick up. But, it’s really satisfying collecting it.”

The council says it will work closely with the group to identify hotspot areas and see if it can offer any further assistance.

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Over the last year, NEDDC’s Environmental Health Team has responded to more than 200 reports of accumulations of waste and fly-tipping in the district.

Coun Charlotte Cupit, cabinet member for the environment, said: “There are some amazing community-spirited groups and individuals who go out of their way to pick up other people’s rubbish and I can’t thank them enough for all they do.

“As a council, we also work hard to keep our district clean and tidy, but everyone needs to play a part by disposing of their waste carefully.

“We live in a beautiful part of the country, so let’s keep it that way.”

The council insists it takes a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to the issue and will issue an £80 fixed penalty notice to anyone witnessed littering.

A council spokesperson said: “We are therefore urging people to think before they throw, join a community clean-up group if they can and report any litter or fly-tipping they see.”

The council’s Streetscene Team is able to loan litter picking equipment to individuals or groups, and will also pick up the rubbish you collect. Contact [email protected].

People can also report littering via the council website or by calling 01246 231111.

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