A COMMUNITY has dedicated itself to cleaning up their local town.

Over the past year people have been going out more and this has led to more people taking pride in their local area.

Litter picks started off as people out on a walk but soon expanded into a group known as ‘The Wombles of Willington.’

Group litter picks come about when someone requests a specific area to concentrate on, then the Wombles of Willington come out of the undergrowth to join them.

The group has been a hit with the community and has nearly 200 members on their Facebook group.

Elanor Dhiman one of the founders of the group said: “We set up the group as there are some really grotty parts of Willington with a lot of litter that had been dumped.

"My husband started clearing some of the areas where a lot of stuff had been dumped and I started taking a bag with me when I took the dog for a walk.

“A lot of people on the We are Willington Facebook page were complaining about the amount of rubbish and wanted the council to do something about it.

“We just thought that it was a problem that could be fixed quicker if we all play a part, so we set up the group encouraging people to fill a bag with litter on their dog walks or rambles.

“It's lovely how it's turned into a community and brought people together even in lockdown.

“If people have an area they want to tackle, they'll put a call out in the group and people come along or, they can just Womble away knowing that they're a part of the bigger picture to clear up Willington.

"Anyone can Womble whether that's a walk with the grandkids while you fill a bag or crawling in the undergrowth to clear the hedgerow.

“I think this has meant that people have just got on with it.

"You can see the difference around the town. Its obvious people are picking up the litter in their streets whereas before it seemed like it was just left to blow in the wind.”

Malcolm Read a fellow 'Wombler' said: “The sheer volume of rubbish that has been 'Wombled' and the way the everyone has come together to deal with a problem has helped build the group into a community.”