Litter picking duo use their daily exercise to clean up nature reserve in Doncaster

The Edlington Pit Wood has seen many more visitors in the last two months according to Ian Singleton who has been litter picking the area with friend Tom Macleod twice a week.

Ian, aged 50, said: “I took a 120-litre bag down a few days ago and completely filled it with the litter that had been left over the weekend.

“I’ve never seen so many people here.

“It would be great if people could grab a bag and a stick and litter pick when they’re walking around the Pit Wood.”

The Pit Wood is a nature reserve that opened in 2006 on top of an old mining slack heap.

There is currently only one bin on-site and according to Ian, it is often vandalised.

Ian says he isn’t concerned about the number of visitors coming to the Pit Wood as Edlington is close to many outdoor spaces such as the Wadsworth Woods and the Trans Pennine Trail.

Ian spent many years of his life living in Germany when he was part of the military.

He said: “I lived there for 25 years and it was so clean.

“The people there pick up litter on the street when they see it - people think that it’s the council but it’s not.

“In comparison, this country is so dirty it’s unbelievable.

“I don’t understand how people live like this from the bottom of my heart.

“Every day I see dog waste, wrappers, and cans up and down my street - I see kids kicking it about.”

Ian and Tom have been going out onto the Pit Wood regularly to pick up waste left by people throughout the lockdown and do not plan on stopping anytime soon.

They are both part of a fledgling group hoping to raise money for the Pit Wood to fix broken signs and add more bins but progress has been halted due to Covid-19.

If you want to know more about it you can follow them on Instagram here.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

Nancy Fielder, editor