Children in Glyntaf near Pontypridd armed themselves with gloves and plastic bags for a day to help tackle the problem of litter in the town.

A team of youngsters volunteered to become Wastebusters and collected a total of 50 sacks of rubbish from the streets.

Cleaning up the litter makes it a nicer place to live

Nicola Jones, Waste buster

The group of 20 who took part in the event, used litter grabbers to pick up dropped waste.

Children as young as two participated in the clean-up which organisers said was a success.

Nicola Jones, 10, helped with the tidy up.

"Cleaning up the litter makes it a nicer place to live.

"We can also make it better for the wildlife that live on the estate as well," she added.

Environment improvement councillor for Rhondda Cynon Taff, Adrian Hobson said youngsters need to be educated.

Fly-tipping is a problem throughout the country

"Schemes like this one at Glyntaf that involve children and the whole community in our campaign to clean up the area are very important," said Mr Hobson.

"By forming partnerships with community groups to tackle the problem of litter we are helping to raise people's awareness of the environmental problems that litter, fly-tipping and dumping cause.

"People don't realise that litter is often household waste - just in a different place."

The scheme was set up to help educate young people to respect their surroundings by keeping the area free from litter.

Combat litter

It was supported by Glyntaf Tenants and Residents Association and Valleys Kids - which manages play schemes in the area.

Jayne Burgess from the residents association said: "By asking the children on the estate to get involved and to help us pick up the litter we are encouraging them to stop and think before they drop anything in future.

"We are trying to encourage them to be more responsible for their local surroundings.

"Anyone dropping litter is just adding to the mess on the ground.

"Our children need to realise they can help us combat the problem just by putting their litter in the bin every day," said Ms Burgess.