MEET the volunteers who have gone toe-to-toe with the plight of littering- and intend on winning.

Keep Blackburn Tidy, which was formed just over a month ago, has already picked up hundreds of black bin bags worth of waste across the town and has not hinted at slowing down.

Formed by green-fingered friends Heidi Pugh, Michelle Baker and Tracey Padia, the group has more than 1,000 followers on Facebook and regularly organise to meet at spots in the town and pick up rubbish.

Heidi, a mother-of-two, said the group was formed after chatting with other keen litter pickers.

She said: "We decided to form the group to make all of our good work more organised.

"We set up the group and we've had a fantastic response, for example we completed a massive clean up in New Bank Road last weekend, which was organised by Cllr Tasleem Fazal Cllr Jackie Floyd.

"We filled a large skip, 10 trailers full of rubbish and about 10 car boots full of bags, the volunteers worked ever so well.

"We've had a massive help from Blackburn with Darwen Council in supplying the equipment to help us pick up rubbish.

"There's lots of children that come out to help us too, which really pleasing to see."

The borough is also home to another large community clean up group, Keep Darwen Tidy, which was established earlier this year.

The 47-year-old said she picked up 3,228 cigarette butts during the clean up at the weekend, which worried her.

She said: "Around 80 per cent of the rubbish on our streets are from cigarettes.

"They're toxic to birds, which think its food or something to line their nests with.

"They also get washed into drains and cause them to block up.

"Another worrying aspect of littering is you can see the litter trails from school children, they leave lots of energy drink cans around, It's concerning how much they are potentially drinking."

Heidi's son, Nathan,10, was awarded by national group Keep Britain Tidy as a 'litter hero' in May, for his litter picking efforts.

The Lancashire Telegraph reported earlier this month how Jenny Glancy-Potter, from Darwen, has put more than a hundred brightly painted pebbles, with anti-littering slogans on them, across Darwen.

The 44-year-old said she regularly goes out with her four-year-old twins, Seth and Pearl, and hides the palm-sized pebbles near schools and other areas where children go.

Janet Pearce, of Keep Darwen Tidy, said: "We are pleased that we have inspired Blackburn residents to start a similar group.

"It's great that Blackburn are improving the litter problem in the area and we wish them every success."

The next large litter pick will meet at the Immanuel Church in Preston Old Road, Blackburn, at 7.15pm on Wednesday, June 27, in conjunction with the Immanuel Cubs.

For more information, visit the Keep Blackburn Tidy Facebook page.