Farnworth woman almost hit with fouling bag whilst litter picking

Karen Liptrot who heads up Highfield and New Bury litter pickers and community group, was out and about on Cawdor Street, Campbell Street and Lorne Street which have been flagged on a number of occasions as fly-tipping hotspots.

Whilst out tackling the waste in an area which had already been cleared two months previously, Karen said she was left in ‘disbelief’ as a resident in the area almost hit her with a dog fouling bag.

She said: “As I was about to drag a mattress out with a fellow volunteer someone whizzed a dog poo bag over their wall aimed at landing on a huge pile of rubbish and it just missed my head!

“I just continued with my work in disbelief!”

Karen alongside the police, a litter picking volunteer, enforcement were all in attendance on the day working hard to combat the fly tipping that had built up.

Bags filled by the litter picking volunteers (Image: Karen Liptrot)Volunteers joined up on Sunday morning, October 15, to tackle the areas including Cawdor Street, which was heavily fly tipped with mattresses, household waste bagged and unbagged, carpet, kids’ toys, pallets, rubble, sofas and more.

During the litter picking day, 14 volunteers from all over Bolton worked hard for just under two hours and cleared 95 bags of rubbish plus a large fly tip.

Despite how much was cleared, Karen said more needs to be done.

She said: “Another grot spot identified by a regular volunteer who lives within the locality of Cawdor Street.

“They asked if I could arrange a multi-group pick to clear this particular area.

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“Multi-group picks involve volunteers from across the borough and volunteers join up on a Sunday morning to tackle highlighted areas.

“We cleared the streets surrounding Cawdor Street of litter but paid particular attention to the back street.

“This backstreet was targeted at the back end of July by Bolton Council, and this is all well and good but a one off clean up does not work.

“We are dealing with the symptoms not the cause, it needs targeted work by the council and councillors to deal with the cause.

“An official council sign displaying the consequences of fly tipping is attached to a wall in the back street, but people are not deterred.

Fly-tipping in the back street of Cawdor Street (Image: Karen Liptrot)“The volunteers enjoy what they do, we are proud to live in Bolton so therefore want to make it the best it can possibly be.

“The bags were swiftly collected by Bolton Council and the new to role volunteer coordinator for Bolton Council, Gareth Pike, who works closely with the volunteers, communicated his appreciation for Sunday’s clean up and the positive impact we have within the town.

“Gareth plans to support with future multi group picks including the next ‘BIG ONE’ in New Bury on Century Lodge.”

The clean-ups take place each Sunday as a way to combat the fly tipping across the borough.

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @chloewjourno.