Volunteers return for marathon litter pick
WLWA volunteer group has collected 54 bin bags worth of litter during the Surrey Half Marathon.
The Woking Litter Warriors (WLW) have been collecting rubbish on the course for four consecutive years, taking advantage of the closed roads to collect other people's waste in a safe environment.
The group set out at 08.00 GMT on Sunday and found several of the roads to be "badly littered" despite another group litter pick two months ago.
"It's quite astonishing how quickly rubbish mounts up when people simply don't take any pride in their locality or care about the environment," said Warriors founder Lauren Horncastle.
WLWHorncastle said: "We find plenty of items which could cause harm to local wildlife, quite apart from the distressing appearance the trash gives to what should be a pleasant and attractive part of Surrey."
Backed by Woking Borough Council, the crew of 16 members found items such as a car headlamp unit and multiple microwave ovens, as well as a minimum of 34 vapes and 17 nitrous oxide (NOS) canisters.
In total, the litter collection on Sunday came to 54 bin bags, 10 bags shy of last year's collection - but not taking into account the 30 bags collected in January.
Despite the amount of litter collected, Horncastle said it was not as bad as in previous years.
"Maybe our message is finally getting through," she said.
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