'Adult Toys, Machetes - Leicestershire Litter Wombles See It All'

Dan Martin & Ady Dayman

BBC News, Leicester

Leicestershire Litter Wombles A litter womble holds up a rusty piece of metal resembling a face in front of her — There are about 200 active litter wombles in Leicestershire

“There’s not a town, village or stretch of road in Leicestershire we haven’t picked”.

The Leicestershire Litter Wombles have, after five years, reached a milestone of collecting 200,000 bags of the waste and detritus others have tossed away but co-founder Bob Lee says he does not feel like celebrating.

Mr Lee is among a group of around 200 active volunteers who give up their own time to keep the county clean – or as clean as they can.

He said the wombles’ work felt “never-ending”.

Litter Womble Sam Laywood with a safe he found in 2024

Sam Laywood A man in high-vis kneeling by a safe and a bin bag — Litter Womble Sam Laywood with a safe he found in 2024

“We have some great people but it feels like we are running to standstill,” Mr Lee, from Glen Parva, said

“What we really want is to change people’s attitudes, get them to stop dropping litter in the first place, then we could all have our weekends back.”

Each bag of litter, collected from verges, hedges, footpaths and car parks and woodlands, has been carefully logged then properly disposed of.

Mr Lee said: “We do this not only to get rid of the rubbish ourselves but to raise awareness and try to get the message across that it is not acceptable to drop litter.

“Some people seem to think there is an army of council pickers out there going round getting everything they throw away but there isn’t, and that’s why we always have work to do.”

Big litter picks can net dozens of bags of waste, organisers said

Leicestershire Litter Wombles A large pile of rubbish bags by the road — Big litter picks can net dozens of bags of waste, organisers said

Rubbish dating back decades is often found

Leicestershire Litter Wombles A collection of dirty old bttles and cans — Rubbish dating back decades is often found

Litter Womble co-founder Bob Lee (left), pictured with volunteer Sam Laywood, said collecting waste was “rewarding work”

Sam Laywood Bob Lee in a red t-shirt raising a glass with volunteer Sam Laywood — Litter Womble co-founder Bob Lee (left), pictured with volunteer Sam Laywood, said collecting waste was “rewarding work”

Mr Lee added: “Nothing surprises us now. We have seen the lot.

“We found some strange stuff. We have found adult toys and adult clothes.

“I found a pair of pants in a layby earlier. You wonder how some of the stuff gets there.”

Mr Lee said the pickers have had cause to call the police on numerous occasions with discoveries including machetes, fly-tipped cannabis farm equipment, and a safe with passports in it.

“We find a lot of very old litter – stuff that just doesn’t bio-degrade. There was a 35-year-old McDondalds hamburger carton which was in near-perfect condition.

“A can was found with a 1978 competition on it.”

Some of the finds have been described as “vintage”

Leicestershire Litter Wombles An old washing-up liquid bottle on the right and a CD of Irish jokes on the left — Some of the finds have been described as “vintage”

Numerous knives have been retrieved during litter picks

Leicestershire Litter Wombles A knife blade, a metal canister and a rusty Machete — Numerous knives have been retrieved during litter picks

Not all of the waste the pickers find is sent to the tip.

Mr Lee said: “Some stuff, we find is in good condition so it gets cleaned up and sold – a rocking horse for example. If we can get a fiver here and a tenner there it all helps with the costs.

“We keep going and going, it’s hard but rewarding work, and we keep hitting these milestones.

“But honestly, I’ll count it as a success if we don’t need to get to 300,000 bags.”