A WINDERMERE teenager has taken it upon herself to clean up the town's streets after becoming fed up with the amount of litter in the area.

Lorelei Khan-Robinson, 17, has been doing litter picks around Windermere with the help of her family and friends.

Some people have chosen to sponsor her picks in an effort to thank her and support Lorelei's plans to go to China to teach English.

Lorelei, who goes to sixth form at Queen Elizabeth School in Kirkby Lonsdale, said: "I was walking in Sherriffs Wood and just saw that there was litter everywhere and that made me sad.

"My mum said that the town council were looking into a litter problem in the area, and I thought I might be able to help.

"I did the first pick last week and my mum and my grandma helped. There was lots of litter just by the side of roads and near bus stops, out in the open. It was horrible.

"I find it annoying that people do that. People don't seem to think about it when they drop their litter, and I think it is a symptom of a wider problem of consumerism and too much packaging in products.

"I hope that by doing these litter picks it will make people think a bit more. It is not much effort to just carry litter until you find a bin. People need to think more about the way they treat the planet.

"The environment is something I feel passionate about, and I would like to do more to help as I get older."

Lorelei's latest littler pick was at the Glebe, where there was a significant quantity of rubbish following the bank holiday weekend. She was helped by her friend Lucy and her dad.

Windermere Town Council has highlighted a few places around the town where litter is a major problem.

These include Ash Street and Millerground. Action is being led by Cllr Peter Hamilton, who has presented a number of ideas to the council to help combat the issue. These include more litter bins and stronger bags for commercial waste.

Lorelei's fundraising page can be found at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LoreleiKhanRobinson

Speaking of the sponsorship she has been receiving, Lorelei added she was thankful that that was how people were responding.

"Everything is a wonderful help," she said. "For the China work I will also be holding concerts and putting on raffles, so there are other ways to fundraise as well."