Litter pickers hit the streets, verges, hedgerows and car parks of Waltham Abbey over the weekend as part of Keep Britain Tidy’s Great Plastic Pick Up.

Nicola Liddard of Waltham Abbey Women's Institute and Mandy Pomfrett Bass, a Roundhills residents, organised litter picks with support and promotion from the Waltham Abbey Litter Picking Posse.

Teams covered the south of Roundhills, parts of Lee Valley Regional Park near McDonalds, Abbey Gardens, the Crooked Mile and the small car park area by Tesco and the medical centre.

Twenty nine bags full of litter were collected across the three days, along with car child seats, assorted shoes and a complete shower curtain.

Ms Liddard said, “Everyone should have an interest and a pride in their local area.

"If it looks good it makes you feel good. There was terrific team spirit on our plastic and litter pick venture.

"We want to keep Waltham Abbey beautiful."

The Waltham Abbey Litter Picking Posse organises regular litter picks along with promoting picks from other groups.

Dave Plummer, who organised the support from the Waltham Abbey Litter Picking Posse, added: 'It's been great to see so many people taking the time to get stuck into making our town tidier but it’s a real shame that it needs doing at all.

"So much of the litter we collected was unnecessary single-use plastic, from water bottles to McDonalds sauce pots and straws.

"Of course, there’s no reason for people to litter at all. Hopefully the recent interest in plastics and litter following the BBC’s superb Blue Planet 2 series will help people see how littering affects our environment, locally and globally, and maybe encourage a change of behaviour."