LITTER pickers with an eye for the unusual were celebrated this week as the winners of the Great Herefordshire Spring Clean competition were announced.

Two civic minded volunteers were presented with prizes for submitting old or unusual items of litter, discovered while cleaning up their local environment.

The most unusual piece of litter was submitted by eight-year-old Zeb Swan, from Wellington, who found an intriguing pair of plastic handcuffs.

Whilst the oldest item was found by Wendy Salter of the Ross Community Clean-up group, who submitted a For Sale sign which is at least a quarter of a century old, dated by the old telephone code.

Both Zeb and Wendy were presented with £25 vouchers to a local retailer of their choice.

Over 60 litter picks were carried out by parish councils or community groups, and over 825 bags of litter collected as part of the Great Herefordshire Spring Clean last month.

Ben Boswell, Energy and Active Travel Manager at Herefordshire Council, said: “There were some brilliant items found and it was a very difficult decision in the end, but every single person who contributed to the Spring Clean should be very proud of the positive impact they have had on their local environment."

Click here for volunteer litter picking information and support from Hereford Council.