A mass litter pick across Bridport has been a "big success" as residents came together to clear rubbish from streets and the sea.

On Sunday, people set out from Morrisons and Co-op car parks with litter picks and bin bags to clear local green spaces. It also included West Bay Beach Clean volunteers and people on paddleboards collecting litter from the river.

The From Street to Sea mass litter pick is one part of a campaign to engage as many local people as possible in taking care of our communal spaces, the focus of which is raising an army of Bridport Litter Free Street Champions who will carry out regular litter picks around the area in which they live.

Bridport mayor, councillor Ian Bark, said: "Sunday's mass litter pick was a big success and I am extremely proud of all those who took part.

"Families and friends, young and old, spent an hour picking and the end result was a huge amount of other people's rubbish cleared.

"One lady who told me when she first contacted us about getting involved that, 'there isn't any litter on my street', arrived with a big smile on her face and a small plastic bag of rubbish she had collected on her street. Sadly, despite what people say, litter is everywhere."

The piles of rubbish collected were gathered together at the West Bay Discovery Centre and Morrisons, where they were collected by Dorset Waste Partnership. Champions from across the town brought the results of their pick on their streets to add to the pile.

Apart from two car wheels, a tent and a rusty shopping trolly, the majority of the litter collected consisted of glass, plastic and metal drink containers, much of which contained alcohol, takeaway coffee cups, plastic sandwich and snack food wrappers and disposable plastic gloves and face masks.

Cllr Bark added: "None of these things should be simply discarded wherever you happen to be.

"People like to look for someone to blame and the easy targets are our visitors and the shops that sell these items.

"For the past few months, we have been living under lockdown conditions where visitor numbers have been almost zero and yet there has still been a significant amount of litter. Although there will inevitably be an increase in the amount of litter when our visitors are here, we have to accept that there is a base load that people who live here are responsible for.

"Having spent a good deal of time talking to local shopkeepers over recent weeks about the issue of litter, I am aware that they are doing their best to try and get their suppliers to reduce the amount of plastic they use and wherever possible, remove it altogether or use a bio friendly alternative.

"So much for the supply end of the chain, it is what happens to the items purchased that is at the heart of the litter problem. When a consumer leaves a shop, they are responsible for how they dispose of it, not the shopkeeper.

"I would particularly like to thank Morrisons, Co-op, Baboo, Litter Free Dorset and Dorset Waste Partnership who have all been absolutely fantastic in the support they have given."

An autumn From Street to Sea mass litter pick is being planned for Sunday, October 17. If you would like to join the growing army of Bridport Litter Free Street Champions or take part in the litter pick, email your contact details to [email protected]

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