COMMUNITY-minded litter pickers reached out to over 15,000 people when their hard work was taken up by the internet thanks to several bottles of vodka.

Now campaigner Yvonne Rose is hoping it is the start of something big. The litter pickers gathered ten bags of rubbish from just 150 metres of the main A684 road between Aiskew and Bedale.

Ms Rose, Chair of Bedale and Villages Community Forum had appealed through the group's Facebook page, OfficialBedale, for help in tackling big litter issues in the town.

A group of volunteers from the Coop store in Bedale stepped forward armed with rubbish sacks and litter poles and Ms Rose gave an official vote of thanks on Facebook with a special appeal to one particular litter lout.

She said: “Many thank you’s to the volunteers from the Coop who have just picked up ten bags of litter from 150 metres of the A684 in Aiskew.

“Would whoever walks along there regularly drinking a 250ml bottle of New Amsterdam vodka please take the bottles home with them. Twelve were picked up.”

Within 24 hours the post was seen by more than15,000 people, and with many responses.

“I was amazed, and I suspect it was the vodka comment, but it’s brilliant if it helps get the message across,” said Ms Rose.

Go to OfficialBedale on facebook to find out more.