A Hatfield pupil has been clearing littering and fly-tipping in the town, which he think is on the increase.

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Litter picking by Casey. Picture: Supplied.Litter picking by Casey. Picture: Supplied.

Eight-year-old Casey’s dad Ivan Hunt has shared the inspirational story of his son’s efforts to clear the worst of the litter in our town.

He said: “The problem seems to be on the increase, in particular the amount of littering in hedgerows, footpaths and along the beautiful walkways such as St Albans Way along the old rail track.

“Some people seem to use these places as a dumping ground, old bits of cars, toys, building materials, old rugs, bags of household waste, and shopping trollies. All sorts of stuff.

“I often find myself moving said items to the litter bins and fortunately the council tend to take it away eventually. The council shouldn’t have to though. It must cost the council a lot of money each year clearing fly tipping.”

Welwyn Hatfield Times: Litter picking by Casey. Picture: Supplied.Litter picking by Casey. Picture: Supplied.

There were 2,107 incidents of fly-tipping in the 2018/19 period for the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council area, compared to the 2,415 incidents in 2017/18. This is a reduction of 12.8 per cent. The data for 2019/20 has not yet been released so it is hard to determine whether there has been an increase this year.

Ivan added: “While walking my dog, we pick up beer cans, pop cans, plastic bottles and put them in the bin, helping to educate my children to not litter and to help keep our environment tidy, especially the local nature reserves such as Howe Dell.

“On the back of this my eight-year-old son who attends Countess Anne School in Hatfield is currently undertaking a sponsored litter pick to raise money for the charity Toilet Twinning.”

Toilet Twinning transforms lives in some of the poorest places on the planet through vulnerable households learning the importance of sanitation and hygiene, building their own loo and gaining access to clean water.

Ivan said: “With my help Casey has been litter picking with a target of 500 items of recyclables, cans, bottles, glass etc. We have already exceeded this target.

“Please, please, support us my making a donation, any amount, it all helps be it 50p or £50.”

Casey is currently a few £100 off his target of £500.

You can donate more here justgiving.com/fundraising/casey-kamara-hunt.