More than 70 bags of rubbish were collected during the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s recent clean-up of Stevenston’s Kerelaw Burn.

The event, on Sunday, January 20, was the charity’s third Kerelaw Glen community clean-up. These clean-ups are part of the trust’s Heritage Lottery funded Connecting Communities to Nature in Ayrshire project.

Harry Richards, Ayrshire Community Engagement Officer at the Scottish Wildlife Trust, said: “We had 15 people and we collected over 70 bags of litter, plus lots of larger items such as prams and beds etc.

“The NAC Streetscene team uplifted the stuff – a total of four van loads. I got a nice email from NAC Streetscene congratulating us on the hard work we have done so far.

“I’m going to try and get some of the locals who have turned up to try and set up a litter picking crew to continue the work after my project has finished.”

The Ayrshire branch of the trust have been working alongside the Three Towns Men’s Shed, based in Saltcoats. As part of the collaboration, the shed has been making bird and bat boxes which will be erected along the glen in time for the start of the Spring bird breeding season.

Harry added: “In the spring I will offer the local residents a free guided walk for families where we can chat about wildlife and hopefully spot something.”