Over the last eight weeks for one to two hours per week I have been removing litter from locations where I feel hard-pressed South Lakeland District Council cannot cover, namely The Castle, Scroggs Wood/river, Serpentine woods/Kendal Green, south of Sandy Bottoms/Jubilee playing fields and north of Sandy Bottoms to Carus Green.

I have removed between one and two bags from each location.

The law is quite clear - if you drop litter intentionally you can be fined up to £1,000, depending on severity and if you inform the council of a location of dumped litter or a litter strewn area they should remove it within a short time scale.

My challenge to the Kendal community is to adopt these areas or others closer to your home, to remove litter on a, say, six monthly frequency.

I placed the collected bags alongside litter bins and wore strong gloves on all occasions.

If you adopt an area please inform me dbirkett@talktalk.net .

You may say I have better things to do with my free time; think of the satisfaction of seeing an area clean and healthier for your children or grand children.

Kendal is a fantastic town in a unrivalled location. Let us do something to maintain that reputation.

David Birkett

Kendal