Working together to tidy up Wiltshire towns in the Great British Spring Clean

Residents young and old donned high-vis jackets and worked together to fill bags full of rubbish and clean up the streets during the month-long initiative.

GreenSquare's litter picks at Lid Brook and Colemans Farm Community Centre in Calne, Barrow Green in Chippenham, Pockeridge Road in Corsham, and Dogridge in Purton saw dozens of people sprucing up the areas and enjoying Easter treats as a much-deserved reward for their efforts.

Community involvement officer Sue Matthews said: “We’ve enjoyed putting on these sessions for our residents and for staff. They are a lot of fun and a chance for people to come together and see the difference just a few hours of litter picking can make to their local environment, whether it’s in the area they live or where they work. Activities like these help build community spirit. We want to encourage more residents to volunteer to become regular litter picks in their neighbourhoods.”

Coun Peter Hutton joined the big spring clean by collecting 12 bagfuls of rubbish during a litter pick at Exeter Close Cepen Park South with the help of local residents,team members from Chippenham McDonalds and Coun Chris Ruck.

The Beaufort Hunt Team worked on the Countryside Alliances Big Rural Spring Clean to tackle the ancient Fosse Way earlier this month and cleared it of litter from The Gibb near Castle Combe to Kemble near Cirencester.

A spokesperson said: "It is always upsetting to see the careless way unwanted litter is discarded. Not only is it unsightly but it can cause great damage to the environment."

Teenager Ben Thornbury, 13, cleared up some slippery leaves around the Abbey Steps and alleys near John Betjeman Close and Hobbes Close in Malmesbury with his younger brother Josh, 10 and neighbour Julie Taylor. Julie said: "The response from the public was great they thought the same they were very slippery. We like to help the community of Malmesbury and keep the place clean."