Conservative candidates for the upcoming council elections carried out a clean-up of West Cumbria.
The two-day initiative saw streets scrubbed, bus shelters painted, graffiti erased with litter cleared from streets, back lanes, cycle paths and town squares.
The initiative was kicked off last summer by Workington MP Mark Jenkinson. He joined candidates and volunteers for a clean-up effort in Maryport, Broughton and Harrington.
He said: “Our Grot Spot Weekend was a great success, and I hope it is an initiative that will continue to gather support.
“The local borough council does an excellent job. However, we cannot simply leave everything up to the local authority: we all have a duty to help keep our communities clean, for example, by disposing of our litter responsibly in the first place.
“There is basic stuff we can all do to improve the appearance of our streets. This means not throwing your coffee cups on the ground or leaving cigarette ends on the street with a shrug and saying: ‘It’s okay: someone else will pick up after me’.”
On Saturday April 2 there was a litter pick organised by Colin Sharpe, candidate for the Seaton ward to remove graffiti from the freshly-painted bus shelter on Mitchell Avenue.
Later the same day, Deb Garton, candidate for St John’s Ward, arranged a cleaning and demossing of the large road sign on the A596 between the police station and Workington Hall, followed by a general litter pick of the area.
John Connell, the candidate for St Michael’s ward, demossed, weeded and cleared the alley behind Devonshire Street.
On Sunday, Steve Newton, candidate for Maryport North Ward, led a general litter pick, weeding and tidy up of Fleming Square.
Neil Rumbold, candidate for Dearham and Broughton, was involved in a clean-up of the former traveller encampment at the Little Broughton Junction of the A594 and Harrington ward candidate Chris Clarkin undertook a general litter pick and clean-up of the cycle track at High Harrington.
