THE Wombles of Hambleton, based in Northallerton, were out in force earlier in the Autumn to do their bit as part of a week of action from Keep Britain Tidy.

The campaign was postponed from Spring due to Covid-19 and despite the rule of six coming into force, the Wombles were not deterred and split up into separate groups.

Members took part in 53 litter picks over 17 days ranging from solo picks, to evening walks and wombles, to village picks, to the "waggy dog walk and pick" and finally culminating in a "Big Pick" in Romanby.

One especially interesting litter pick excavated an old breeze block wall in Northallerton and produced a snapshot of history, with wave after wave of vintage litter being uncovered. Perhaps the oldest piece found was an intact Vimto can dating between 1971 and 1978.

During the campaign, the Wombles of Hambleton removed 122 sacks of rubbish from their local area and since then have continued the clean-up to bring the bag total, as of October 5, to 1,541 sacks for the year to date, in spite of lockdown.

Organiser Claire Hampson described the effort as "incredible work". "We are optimistically working towards a target of 2020 bags for 2020, which is a tall order but we leave no piece of litter unturned in our quest and are proud to be making a difference and keeping our area clean," added Mrs Hampson.

"With no less than four LitterHeroes ambassadors in our group (selected by Keep Britain Tidy) we aim to 'educate and demonstrate' in many different ways. But perhaps most important to us is supporting our members mental health through regular chats and walks."