A SCANDINAVIAN trend has hit the streets of County Durham - prompting townsfolk to pull on their running gear and hunt for litter.

Residents of Sedgefield are redefining litter-picking as we know it by adopting the active, eco-friendly Swedish trend dubbed ‘plogging’.

The concept encourages groups of people to join together to pick up rubbish while jogging.

Chris Lines, who has formed the Sedgefield Ploggers, said: “I discovered plogging before the summer holidays and thought that it was a concept that could work well in Sedgefield.

“Sedgefield is actually pretty tidy but every community has litter and plogging is a great way to remove some of it, while keeping active.”

With the help of his wife Catherine, Mr Lines created a logo and set up social media accounts to spread the word in June.

But it was not until two weeks ago when he met plogging founder Erik Ahlström that he was spurred on to get it off the ground.

Mr Ahlström was a keynote speaker at the European Outdoor Summit in Malmö where Mr Lines joined him for a plog around the Swedish city’s streets.

“It was really helpful to see plogging in action and was the nudge I needed to get Sedgefield Ploggers up and plogging,” he added.

Mr Lines got hold of gloves, biodegradable bags and a cow bell - to keep everyone going in broadly the same direction - and held a ‘proto plog’.

The test event on Friday, which coincided with the European Week of Sport, was attended by a group of adults and children who collected about a dozen bags of litter in half an hour.

Plogging is done at a “sedate pace” so is suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels. Mr Lines said: “It’s a great intro for getting more active for those who want to.

“Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I felt the plog was a great success.”

Mr Lines now hopes to attract continued support in order to hold regular Sedgefield Ploggers events.

“Plogs won’t have a formal schedule,but I hope there will be many more to come,” he added.

  • For more details, to get involved as a plogger or organiser and to highlight areas that would benefit from a visit find the Sedgefield Ploggers on Facebook at facebook.com/sedgefieldploggers, on Twitter and Instagram @sedgefieldplogs or email sedgefieldploggers@gmail.com