Daubhill and Deane Litter Pickers group find dead rats

Wendy Ann Shepherd is part of the Daubhill and Deane Litter Pickers group, who go out every Saturday from noon till 2pm to clean the streets of Bolton.

But recently, while Wendy was with the group, they found a dead rat,  at the back of St George The Martyr.

Wendy says such sights are a common occurrence for the group, as the streets are full of takeaway rubbish which is not cleared.

She said: “The dead rat was found in the back street of church I think it is quite common, not just in the backstreet of Church Avenue but a lot of local streets and back streets.

“I wasn't surprised when I saw the rat because of the amount of litter and fly-tipping in the streets.

“The area has a massive problem with fly-tipping, like bags of food, left takeaway and other rubbish.

“I think something needs to be done to tackle fly-tipping, definitely more enforcement is needed from Bolton Council plus people need to be educated in not leaving fly-tipping in the streets.

Cllr Abdul Atcha agreed that more needed to be done but said reductions in litter picking services was a cause for concern.

He said: “The cleaning services have been reduced over the year as demand went up.

“In February I did ask if the cleaning will go back to every three weeks from five, but the answer was no.

“This is a major issue and getting enforcement is difficult but we also need to encourage people to continue reporting it and gathering evidence.”

Cllr Atcha has put on litter cleaning events in the past to help create awareness around the areas, as he says that people must also prevent dropping litter.

The Daubhill and Deane Litter Pickers start at Church Avenue and clean the surrounding streets.

They also empty the community bins that are on Church Avenue two to three times a week and the group are on the lookout for more volunteers.