THE Wombles of Hambleton are continuing their litter picking mission to rid the district of rubbish.

The Wombles recently spent an afternoon in Romanby, Northallerton, with NAVCAV - Northallerton and Villages Community Action Volunteers - where the 35-plus litter pickers filled 37 sacks of rubbish.

This included a dozen sacks of items that could be sent for recycling.

Among the more unusual finds were two discarded inflatable dinghies, kitchen lino, three tyres and a car boot cover.

Group founder and Keep Britain Tidy ambassador Claire Hampson, said: "Twelve sacks of pure recycling is probably the most that we have ever managed to separate so we were really pleased with that - it was mostly cans and plastic bottles.

"Huge thanks must go to our hosts Pearl and Doug at The Golden Lion, Romanby, for our lovely refreshments."

The Wombles have also been talking to the business community in Northallerton town centre after finding unacceptable amounts of commercial litter while out on their rounds.

Their next pick is on Sunday, May 19 at 1.45pm, meeting at The Forum, Northallerton and all volunteers are welcome.