Volunteers in Glasgow have picked more than 1000 bags of litter during a community spring clean over the weekend.
At least 400 people took part in a litter pick that covered the whole city on Saturday.
Organisers estimated the weight of all rubbish collected was between seven to 10 tonnes, and included car tyres, prams, bricks and TVs.
One group removed around 40 bags of rubbish from Ashton Lane and Lilybank car park alone, while another group removed a further another 40 in Yoker (plus car batteries and boilers), and a number groups in Cambuslang removed 150 bags in total.
Many bags have already been collected by the council.
The litter pick was organised by Glasgow man Hamish Docherty in an grassroots effort at community level.
Hamish told Glasgow Live: "Over lockdown, my girlfriend and I (like many other people) spent more and more time outside - going on after work and weekend walks around the city.
"We kept seeing more and more litter - almost everywhere we looked. Cans, bottles and plastic - some of which has clearly been there for years, if not decades.
"We ended up buying a couple of litter picks and gloves and one Saturday spent a few hours picking up litter in our area. We’ve done a handful more over the last few weeks.
"On one occasion, from the Crowne Plaza Hotel near the SSE to the Riverside Museum, we picked up over 8 full bin bags of cans, bottles and litter. That is less than 1 mile and took about 2 hours.
"It was so easy and made such a difference that I started looking into community groups and other people who felt it was an issue. I was so surprised at how many people there are out there doing the same thing - going out and doing an hour of litter picking here and there."
Hamish hopes the litter pick will start a "reset" with regards to littering in Glasgow.
Hamish continued: "Firstly it will have a major impact on some areas of the city that have been neglected for years - hitting the ‘reset button’ in some parts so that council street cleaning teams can simply maintain rather spend hours focusing on one area.
"Secondly we hope it will bring it to the attention of Glasgow City Council to deal with the issue that is blighting the city. I think this is particularly important given Glasgow’s hosting of COP26 later this year - how embarrassing it would be for Presidents, Prime Ministers and the world’s media descending on Glasgow and have to wade through old bottles of Buckfast and Dragon Soup strewn across the streets.
"Thirdly, it looks like many people will be staying in Scotland and the UK this summer. Scotland, deservedly, will be a popular destination for people from all across the UK. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could make the city as beautiful as possible for summer - to be enjoyed by locals and tourists alike?"
