A MAGNIFICENT seven litter bins are now cleaning up the streets around Beal High School after Year 13 student James Juggapah corralled Redbridge Council into action.

The 17-year-old, who was a director of his school's Youth Action group, responded to complaints from residents around the school in Woodford Bridge Road by inviting them to a meeting at the school.

When it emerged that many of the complaints centred on litter, he organised a survey of rubbish around the school.

He said: "I spoke to Councillor Alan Weinberg and he got in touch with Cleaning Services, which suggested we do a litter audit.

"I went out with 20 or 30 students to collect litter from around the school, bring it back and analyse what it was and where it was being dropped."

After finding that the majority of litter was being generated by students, James and his friends met council representatives to work out what would be the best location for the bins, which have now been installed and bear the name of the school.

Councillor Weinberg, who is the Redbridge Council cabinet member for transport and the environment, joined pupils outside the school to mark the official installation.

James said: "We couldn't have as many bins as we wanted because we couldn't put them outside people's houses, but the response from residents is that they have made a big difference."