MEMBERS of a Wyre Forest political party are getting out their bin bags and litter pickers to spearhead a new campaign.

During each Saturday morning in August, various members of the area’s UKIP branch will be taking to particular parts of Wyre Forest to collect dropped litter.

UKIP councillor Michael Wrench, who came up with the idea, spent a day helping out one of the refuse crews on the Birchen Coppice estate in Kidderminster.

“I did the shift so, as a councillor, I get to experience first hand the kind of work they go through,” he said. “I wanted to see how much we rely on our waste services and to see for myself just how tough the job is by doing it.

“It was quite an experience. A few days later I was still aching from it as it is so physically demanding. People really do underestimate the work they are doing.”

Mr Wrench also helped the crew out again last week, experiencing a rural collection to see how it compares to the estate collection.

He is following in the footsteps of his father, Eddie, a former council worker, who was known locally as the singing road sweeper and was also a winner of a best community worker award in the 1980s.

Mr Wrench said: “UKIP believes we all need to do our bit and councillors should lead by example to encourage more community spirit by coming together to keep our areas tidy and safe for children to play.”

Local residents have been invited by Mr Wrench and his fellow UKIP members to join in with the litter collections over the next month.

Meeting at 9.30am each Saturday morning and running till noon, the first pick took place last Saturday in Birchen Coppice estate in Kidderminster, where members filled 25 bags of rubbish.

Mr Wrench said the amount of rubbish the group managed to collect in the time they were out was a great achievement.

“Despite it raining, quite heavily at times, we still went ahead, which is exactly the same for our council refuse workers, who have to go out in all weathers,” he said.

“However, the rain just made us even more determined to get as much litter collected up possible.

“We covered more than half of the estate, and many of the open areas that was being blighted by litter that had been dropped or blown all over, was removed. The difference was noticeable straight away.

“We would like to say a big thank you to all the Wyre Forest Council Staff down at the Green Street depot in Kidderminster for supplying us with all the equipment for this tidy up campaign.”

The next litter pick will take place this Saturday (August 9) from the bottom of Queens Way in Wribbenhall, Bewdley.

The pick after that will meet at the Old Rose and Crown in Stourport on August 16 with the final litter pick taking place on August 23, meeting at the bottom of Usmere Road in the Sion Hill estate in Kidderminster.

For more information about the litter picks contact Bill Hopkins, branch chairman, on 07866 411659 or email bill.hopkins@hotmail.co.uk