THE town has had a tidy up after Somerset Wildlife Trust joined forces with community groups around Taunton to collect litter.

On Tuesday, November 13, 300 people from groups around Taunton came together to tidy up.

Groups from Viridor, Pennon Group, South West Water and Inland Waterways Association came together at COACH in, French Weir Park, to paddle the River Tone in canoes and kayaks with instructors from Channel Adventure, cleaning as they went, and combed the riverbanks and footpaths for discarded litter – helped by Shane Austin – a seasoned litter-picker who frequently clears rubbish from the local rivers and canals in his kayak.

Elsewhere in town, a group of 35 people, including members of Friends of Longrun Meadow, My Day Care Service, 41F (Taunton and District) Squadron Air Training Corps Cadets, CO2 Balance and members of the public took part in a litter pick in Longrun Meadow, collecting eight large bags of litter, as well as a row of seats that had been abandoned in the park.

Ed Mitchell, Viridor’s director of environment and sustainability said: “With our head office so close to the Bridgwater and Taunton canal, together with Somerset Wildlife Trust, we hope to inspire others to think about what happens to their waste.

"If placed in the right bin, many of the items we found, like plastic bottles, can be re-processed and given new life, instead of entering the watercourse and putting our wildlife at risk.”

Other picks were organised by Friends of Comeytrowe Park, Taunton Green Parents, Taunton Canoe Club, Green Days Daycare, Tesco, Taunton Doctors and Stowey Green Spaces took place across town from Bishop’s Hull, to Staplegrove, Lambrook, Blackbrook and Tangier – and even as far afield as Nether Stowey - which saw members of the public and community groups joining in.

Schools such as Blackbrook School and St George’s Catholic School also took part, with other schools including Bishops Henderson School and Cotford St Luke Primary School running their own litter picks in the following days.

The littlest litter-pickers were from Tops Mini Mariners, a group of 15 pre-school children and five staff who did an 'amazing' job clearing litter from the Hankridge area, collecting four bags in total.

In total, more than 300 people took part, who collected more then 60 bags of rubbish to be disposed of, with even more totals still coming in. Where possible, rubbish was sorted into different types of recyclables to be processed. Some very unusual items such as a bed-frame, mattress, stepladder, air-bed, chair, bench, several umbrellas, a cool-box, a beach windbreak, a toy raccoon, four rubber ducks and two traffic cones were pulled from the river itself.

Jolyon Chesworth, nature and wellbeing manager for SWT said: “We were absolutely delighted by the way that people from all parts of town and across a range of communities took part.

"It shows this is something that people really care about; that people are happy to take responsibility to help make a difference and demonstrates to the wider public the huge impact that a collective effort can make in terms of keeping our local green spaces, streets and workplaces clean and safe for people and for wildlife.

"A big thank you to all who took part.”