Clean up your act! - Queensbury group's message to local litter bugs

The group was formed after volunteers gathered to cleanQueensbury high street in preparation for Remembrance Day.

Since the group was formed in November there has been three group litter picks, street cleans and an audit of issues.

Their main aim is to keep the streets of Queensbury clean, tidy and free from litter, and they have volunteers of all ages, including children, parents, local councillors Rob Hargreaves and Andrew Senior, council warden Mohammed Taj and retirees.

At the last two litter picks there were over 20 volunteers, with litter picks usually lasting between an hour to and hour and a half.

Keeley Johnson, 27, is secretary of the group. She said: “The group was created after a concerned resident posted on social media to ask for support to clean the high street before the remembrance parade due to the amount of litter.

“A group of residents then met and tidied the high street. There were many positive comments about the work the group had done. It was then that Linda Mosley asked if residents would be interested in forming a group to litter pick on a more regular basis. After a positive response, the group was formed.

“Prior to the litter picks there was a lot of food packaging, cigarette butts, bottle tops and glass littering the high street.

“While some of the litter is caused by litter bugs, fortnightly bin collections and high winds are adding to the issue. Bins and their contents have been blown over and not picked up.

“The rubbish accumulates at certain points on the high street.

“The group have been alerted to fly tips and have reported them to Bradford Council.

“The message from the group is simple, please put your rubbish in a bin. If you drop it on the floor you are part of the problem. You are taking away time from people’s families, people’s hobbies and from the group planning high street decorations. The groups time would be better spent planning community events and decorating the high street for festivities.”