Students clean up their act

Wellingborough Council's environmental wardens Dean Granger and Stephen Dunkley teamed up with the police on Friday 19 November for a highly-visible patrol after the college's students were identified as being major contributors to littering along Church Street .

Dean said: "We have spoken to a large amount of people this morning, both students and other members of the public in the college, along the street and at the bus stops. The response was really good, and everyone we spoke to thought it was a necessary and beneficial operation."

Dean went on to say: "We haven't given out any fixed penalty notices yet, but we have given verbal warnings to a number of people. We've spoken to them and asked them if they are aware that they may be committing littering offences. I think that littering has become almost acceptable to some people and they don't even think about the effects of it, so it was a good opportunity for us to speak to them and remind them that it is an offence and make sure they think about it in the future."

Stephen added: "It's something that we will definitely do again. I hope that our presence here has changed the attitudes of the people we've spoken to, but there is still a need for continuing education work around littering. The college has recognised that there is an issue and they've been really cooperative. They've been talking about teaming up with the council and the Prince's Trust to organise a tidy up and they are as keen as we are to keep this area tidy."

Tresham students Kammi and Amy, both 16, stopped to use the litter bins at the entrance to the college before talking to the environmental wardens. They said: "We think this is a really good idea, and it does make people think more about what they are doing."