A GROUP of residents from Yelverton have had enough of rubbish — and to prove how much they loathe litter, the group will be out in force in the area later this month picking up rubbish.

The litter picking has been organised as part of the Big Tidy Up Event, England's biggest-ever litter pick, with the aim to get everyone out and about, cleaning up their community and understanding that small actions can be the start of big changes.

The Yelverton group hopes that by its actions it will encourage the rest of the community to start disposing of litter properly.

Figures released by the UK's anti-litter campaign, Keep Britain Tidy, has revealed that council taxpayers in the UK fork out £1-billion a year to clean the streets; more than 30-million tonnes of litter are collected from the streets each year; due to the growing presence of dropped food, the UK rat population now stands at approximately 60-million and people can be fined £80 for dropping litter.

The group will begin to tackle rubbish at St Paul's Church Car Park on Sunday, April 12 from 10.30am to noon and welcomes as many volunteers as possible.

Volunteer Michelle Beevers said: 'This clean up will show others that we care about the future of our local environment and that we are not prepared to live, work and play in an area that is blighted by rubbish. What is good about working together like this is it creates a sense of community. For some of our younger volunteers it is their first taste of citizenship.'

Participants are advised to wear suitable shoes and clothing and if possible bring gloves and high visibility vests.