A LITTLE girl with a keen interest in the environment has encouraged her mum to help set up a litter picking group in their town.

Isla McRobbie, seven, noticed the large amount of litter around Catterick Garrison – particularly in play parks – and urged mum Gillian to help her tackle it.

Mrs McRobbie said: "Isla is home-educated and we have been looking at the environment and plastic pollution. She asked if we could set up a group to bring the community together, so we have our first litter pick in Coronation Park on Sunday, February 23 at noon.

"We have our own litter grabbers and have already collected lots of rubbish. It seems to be a real problem in the area."

Mrs McRobbie added: "In the play parks there is a lot of broken glass, which is just not appropriate or acceptable. We want to give the area a good clean up during the winter months so that when summer comes around and the children can be outside, it is a safe and clean environment for them to be in.

"We had initially looked for other litter picking groups to join, and found one that had been created two years ago by a little boy and his dad, but as he was in the Army he had been posted elsewhere, so the group had fizzled out.

"There are lots of people keen to be involved so we are just pleased to be able to start a regular litter pick up again and make the town nice for everyone."