We spent one hour on litter picking around Kendal

Reporter Filipa Gaspar joined a community litter pick aimed and keeping the town centre rubbish-free.

The monthly meeting serves as a way of connecting residents while recognising the need for a cleaner town.

Volunteers, including the town mayor Julia Dunlop, started at the car park behind Boyes.

Residents were given special equipment for the task including hi-vis vests, grabber tools, gloves and plastic bags. The volunteers split across multiple yards and roads in Kendal for an hour. 

Disposable vape found in one of the yards. (Image: Filipa Gaspar, Newsquest)After learning how to manoeuvre the grabber tool properly, our reporter and volunteers spotted the most varied types of rubbish - from underpants to vapes, forks, boxes, CDs and glass bottles.

But the most prominent finds were cigarette butts. Hundreds of them were spread across the lanes that our reporter covered - and we discovered how challenging it was to pick them up.

The hour flew by trying to fight the cigarette butts but the feeling of accomplishment was worth it with 10 half-full bags collected by the volunteers.

Cigarette butts found next to bins. (Image: Filipa Gaspar, Newsquest)

For some residents, it was the first time they took part in the activity.

Anne-Marie Sanderson, projects officer at Kendal Town Council who was at the litter picking, said: "The event was really successful. We had a great turnout. It is great to have the support and enthusiasm of the community.

 "It is a really important thing to try and reduce waste and make sure waste does not get into the river."

If you cannot make it but would like to organise a litter pick with friends, neighbours or a community group, the litter picking equipment is available to borrow at office@kendaltowncouncil.gov.uk