AN ARMY of litter pickers are have been praised for their efforts to improve Dumfries and Galloway’s environment.
Scores of volunteers have been out and about participating across the region in the spring clean initiative led by the Keep Scotland Beautiful and Keep Britain Tidy organisations.
Dumfriesshire MP David Mundell recently attended a UK launch of the campaign at Westminster and praised the volunteers who work hard in all weathers to help combat the damage done by litter-bugs and fly-tippers. He followed that up over the Easter period taking part in a litter-pick organised by the Annan Eco Warriors, who work closely with the longer-established Annan Churches Together litter group.
The team accumulated a large pile of filled litter sacks and other debris, mainly gathered from roadsides and hedges along the Annan to Eaglesfield route between the town and Annandale Distillery.
Afterwards Mr Mundell said: “I’ve been aware through my casework just how significant an ongoing problem littering and fly-tipping are in our area and the damage to the environment, wildlife and, also importantly, the cost and irritation caused to local people and businesses, particularly in the tourism sector.
“I was struck by the camaraderie and community spirit amongst the Annan group and the variety of items we collected, from drink cans to used face masks and a sofa cushion to wheel trims.
“What particularly surprised me was the large number of used dog poo bags which were discarded and often thrown into hedges rather than being taken home.
“It was good to see first-hand the support being given to litter collecting groups by the local authority and the bags of rubbish and debris were picked up promptly by the council almost immediately after we finished.”
Mr Mundell, who was also shown serious litter pollution at the edge of the near-by A75, thanked the litter-pick organiser Louisa Currie and her colleagues and wished them well with their future efforts.
