Local residents have been taking the ongoing plastic and rubbish issue into their own hands.

Less Plastic UK and Plastic Free Kingsbridge are making strides toward their goal of making Kingsbridge and the South Hams as plastic and rubbish free as possible.

These past two weeks have seen two events centred around ridding the town of all the rubbish on the streets, the first one being a litter pick, and the second, a new eco-friendly running trend called ‘plogging’.

The Plastic Free Kingsbridge litter pick took place on Sunday, April 29 in the Kingsbridge Town Square. About 10-15 people showed up, as well as 11 stand-up paddleboarders who took to picking rubbish out of the estuary, and together collected more than twelve bags of litter.

They covered the estuary, Quay car park and along the Quay, the area around the leisure centre, Duncombe Park, Cookworthy Road, Church Street and Embankment Road.

Coasters Coffee Company kindly offered free hot drinks for the litter pickers afterwards.

The second event took place on Saturday, May 5 and was Kingsbridge’s first ever plogging event. Plogging is a combination of jogging and the Swedish term ‘plokka up’, meaning ‘pick up’. Rather than jogging past the litter, the aim is to pick it up and dispose of it correctly instead.

It was a small albeit mighty group, with four people efficiently picking up pieces of plastic and litter along their two mile route around Kingsbridge. Amanda Keetley, Alex Miller, Luciana Bailly and Monika Malak all rose to the challenge.

Amanda Keetley, event organiser and founder of Less Plastic UK said: “We jogged two miles with plenty of mini recovery sessions to pick up plastic and litter.

“Every piece we pick up is a piece less to make its way into the estuary and sea, saving birds and wildlife from being harmed from that piece of plastic!”

For more information on Plastic Free Kingsbridge, or to see when the next beach or town cleanup series is around the South Hams, visit the South Hams Beach Clean Series Facebook page.