People keen to keep the streets of Alton clean can now borrow litter pickers from six organisations in the town centre.

The Guild of Optimists’ new ‘litter pick lending library’ includes Shrunken Head Skates, Warren Powell-Richards, Specsavers, Printy Banana, the Curtis Museum and the Allen Gallery.

Kat Guenioui from the Guild of Optimists said: “Litter is a real problem. Not only does it make the town look untidy but it also poses a danger to our precious wildlife and, if it ends up in the waterways and breaks down into microplastics, also to us humans.

“We wanted to make it easier for people to address the problem when they see it, and for a wider section of the population to participate in litter picking in a way that’s convenient to them.”

Many community groups in Alton run regular litter picks – including ACAN, The Alton Society, the Guild of Optimists and the Alton Ambassadors – and details are shared in the Alton Litter Picks Facebook group.

Kat added: “It’s great that there is such an active litter-picking community in the town, but these organised events are often at the same time, and perhaps for longer than some people can manage.

“The litter pick lending library means anyone can litter pick, any time during business hours. You could plan to go out and do it, or you might just be in town, see a lot of litter and decide you’re going to do something about it.”

Kat said Alton’s biggest litter problem was cigarette butts: “I recently spoke to someone who works at The Crown about this issue. He said every time they put up a cigarette butt bin, it is vandalised.”

She felt litter was “a self-perpetuating cycle”: “When there is rubbish on the ground, people see it as a licence to drop more. I hope that more bins, more regular litter picking and just seeing people volunteering their time to clean up will make a difference.”

The Guild of Optimists would like more businesses to be litter- picking hosts. Kat said: “We’d love to create a network that stretches across the town and beyond, so that if you were in, say, Holybourne playground or at Anstey Park, and fancied doing some litter picking with the kids, you could find equipment to borrow.”

To join the network email [email protected]