Last updated at 19:51, Thursday, 28 June 2012

Three neighbours in Workington are tackling the litter problem outside their homes head-on.

LITTER PICKERS: Gillian Young, Ethan Young, Darcy Turner, Debbie MacDonald, Kai Colin Davison, Patience Mainwaring and Lisa Scott tackle the problem with rubbish around Razia Court, William Street and Headlands Close, in Workington

The women at Razia Court, William Street and Headlands Close regularly clean up litter from outside their homes because of rubbish being dropped and people’s bins blowing over before collection.

The three women go out each week picking up the litter outside their homes so it can be collected by the regular bin service on a Tuesday.

They said they had found needles, tin cans and glass among the litter.

The area near Headlands Close and William Street is often used as a walkway by people going to Allerdale House and Tesco.

Allerdale council put up a fence at William Street a few months ago to help prevent litter from getting into residents’ back gardens, but Lisa Scott, 28, said it had done little to stop the amount of rubbish in the area.

She said: “It has cost them a fortune to put up a fence but it’s no help.”

There are no public bins nearby and the residents said they never see street cleaners in the area.

Debbie MacDonald, 33, of William Street, said: “I can’t wait to move from here. I won’t even let my children play out.

“I have lost count the number of times I have complained to Allerdale council.”

Gill Young, 51, who has lived in Headlands Close for five years, said: “It’s unbelievable. It’s like this all the time. We want the council to clean it up regularly.”

An Allerdale council spokesman said: “The council is aware of these issues and is in regular contact with tenants and landlords in the area to address the matters.

“The council’s street scene officer visited the area three times last week and found no issues to report.

“The council would reiterate the need for people to look after their local environment by placing litter in bins and not putting out rubbish several days before the collection is due.”

First published at 19:24, Thursday, 28 June 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk