Team up, pitch in and litter pick in your street after bin day, says Northampton father

A father is calling on Northampton's neighbourhoods to come together and litter pick on their streets once-a-week after bin day.
Over a dozen litter pickers in Abington from turn out each week to help clean up their streets following bin day.Over a dozen litter pickers in Abington from turn out each week to help clean up their streets following bin day.
Over a dozen litter pickers in Abington from turn out each week to help clean up their streets following bin day.

Over a dozen residents from Abington pitched in to clean up their area yesterday evening (July 9) to combat stray rubbish and littering left over from that morning's bin collection.

It was the eighth week in a row organiser Richard Moore has been out with friends to tidy up their streets. But after posting notes asking for help through neighbours' doors, more people have got involved to tidy up Abington.

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Richard said: "I'm astounded at the number of people that get involved. It's nice to see that people do actually care.

"If everyone does their bit we could see some real improvement.""If everyone does their bit we could see some real improvement."
"If everyone does their bit we could see some real improvement."

"It feels sometimes like people talk but don't do anything. You could moan about the litter and wait for the council to do something. I just decided it would be a bit quicker to come out and do it ourselves."

The team of neighbours swept up East Park Parade, Holly Road, Ivy Road, Abington Avenue and Abington Grove over the course of an hour and filled 12 bin bags with rubbish, glass and cigarette butts.

Richard said: "The day after bin day the streets are just littered.

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"It reminds me of 'broken window syndrome'. If there is litter people just drop more litter. As soon as it's a bit cleaner, people take a bit more care with it."

The team of neighbours filled 12 bin bags with rubbish in a litter sweep in their area.The team of neighbours filled 12 bin bags with rubbish in a litter sweep in their area.
The team of neighbours filled 12 bin bags with rubbish in a litter sweep in their area.

It comes after the town's new environmental contractors, Veolia, took over maintenance of the town in June, including bin collection.

One of Veolia's flagship promises when they won the contract was a "three-month deep clean".

Richard is now hoping more people will join him litter picking on Mondays or take it up in their own neighbourhoods.

He said: "If people do their bit we could see a real improvement."