Cheshire West and Chester Council is backing a campaign to encourage 500,000 people to get out there and make sure their neighbourhood is one they can be proud of.

The Great British Clean, which will take place from March 3-5, is being co-ordinated by Keep Britain Tidy and will be its biggest-ever litter campaign.

To support the campaign the council is encouraging and supporting groups and individuals who want to ‘do their bit’ to help pick up litter that is unsightly and can injure animals and wildlife.

Groups or individuals who are interested in organising or helping out at a litter pick should contact the council’s place operation’s team on 0300 123 7026, who will arrange for equipment and bags to be provided and picked up.

Councillor Karen Shore, Cabinet member for environment, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the Great British Clean and keen to encourage as many groups, individuals and organisations across the borough to take part.

“We know lots of people already get involved in local volunteering schemes and want to build on their good work over this important weekend to give our beautiful borough a special boost as we enter spring.”

The Great British Clean has won the backing of TV naturalist and writer Steve Backshall, the BAFTA-winning Deadly 60 presenter.

Steve said: “Litter dropped in a British street is a horror show for wildlife, so many animals are injured and even die from the things we throw away. This is such an important issue and I’m proud to be supporting Keep Britain Tidy and their campaign – the Great British Spring Clean.”

The campaign is also being backed by charities such as the RSPCA, the Marine Conservation Society and Keep Wales Tidy and businesses.

It builds on the success of 2016’s national clean-up, which saw 250,000 people get stuck in to clean up their communities, including hundreds of school children, thousands of community groups and 400 local authorities across the country, who between them collected more than 300,000 bags of rubbish.

Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: “The Great British Spring Clean is about getting all those people who care about their environment to take action. We know that more than 50% of people are concerned about the appearance of their local area and so we want them to feel that they can do something about it and they are not alone in caring.

“If 500,000 people help us pick litter for just two hours each that means that our country will benefit from one million hours of clean-up care.”