A surge in volunteers helped an Irvine litter-picking group collect a staggering 1,180 bags of rubbish last year.
Irvine Clean Up Crew racked up the remarkable haul of trash in 2020 despite Covid-19 restrictions hampering their ability to work in groups.
They continued to keep the town tidy – against a backdrop of increased fly-tipping – after dozens of new helpers came forward to offer their services for free.
The group's co-founder Sandra Hughes said: "It's been an incredible effort from everyone who has given up their time to help us. They are amazing.
"We are up to around 120 volunteers now and I would say that about 80 of them joined us during the pandemic.
"I think the whole mental health situtation has definitely played a part. That need to get some fresh air and keep busy has brought people to us."
The group was forced into hibernation at the outbreak of the pandemic last March, but re-emerged in the summer with a little help from two charitable organisations.
Sandra explains: "We realised last February that things were going to grind to a halt.
"We asked our volunteers to stay at home for the first lockdown but when things opened up again we were able to issue individual clean-up kits so volunteers could go if they felt safe to do so.
"We wouldn't have been able to do that without help from our main funder Allan Sayers of the Sayers Foundation. These kits cost £60 each.
"Sustrans also helped us buy £4,000 worth of equipment which has obviously been a massive help for us and our volunteers."
Sandra says that the pandemic has presented new challenges for the group in their mission to rid the whole town of litter.
"Fly-tipping has become a big problem recently and our volunteers are seeing a huge amount of discarded PPE, masks and gloves," she added.
Irvine Clean Up Crew was founded in 2017 with an original aim to keep the town's beach tidy.
Their work is now spread across Irvine and they hope to empower every resident to get rid of plastics.
