Hundreds of litter pickers have taken part in a week-long trash trawl of England’s longest lake and premier tourist destination.

Windermere’s annual Winderclean has been hailed a massive success and community victory. Nearly every school in the parish joined organisations and the public to collect around 200 bags of debris.

The refuse rally saw the Lake District National Park join forces with the town council for an event that gets bigger and better every year, according to LDNP area ranger Steve Tatlock.

“We have been bowled over by the response from community police to the probation service’s pay-back scheme, school children to people who just wanted to make a difference,” he said. “Over the course of this week we aim to get round all public areas of the lake and town. It’s a huge task but one we simply can’t ignore.

“The traditional black-spots have their usual dismal array of broken bottles, cans and junk. I dread to think how much plastic has been recovered.

“Rayrigg Wyke is one of the worst areas as it catches the prevailing wind and all the rubbish from Bowness Bay. Low Wood is another, hit by litter washed down from rivers. A huge number of disposable barbecues are being collected.”

Mr Tatlock is hoping the tidy-up will also impress judges for Cumbria in Bloom, who now look well beyond pretty flowers in making its prestigious awards.

“Although volumes of litter don’t seem to be getting worse, they’re not getting any better either, despite continuous campaigns and pleas to get people to use bins, take litter home and recycle,” he said. “It would be great to get to the stage where we didn’t have Winderclean. Sadly, there’s no sign of this happening.