Burnley clean-up campaign is a sweeping success

Volunteers from the Jamia Masjid Ibrahim mosque took part in a litter pick on Saturday after residents raised concern about the cleanliness of the area with councillor Saeed Chaudhary.

Coun. Chaudhary arranged with the mosque for the community to get together and tackle the issue.

Burnley Council provided litter pickers, gloves, hi-vis jackets and bags.

A group of around 20 adults and children tackled grassed areas, front streets and backstreets around Daneshouse, collecting a dozen bin bags of rubbish which were taken away by the council.

The mosque is planning to carry out similar clean-ups every fortnight to raise community awareness of the negative impact litter has on the quality of life and the importance of clean neighbourhoods.

Organisers are hoping other mosques will launch their own litter picks.

Coun, Chaudhary said: “I’m grateful to the members of the Jamia Masjid Ibrahim mosque for their hard work in helping in the clean up.

"They did a great job and collected a lot of rubbish and all their efforts have helped make the area look a lot better.

“We need to get out the message to the community that dropping litter is wrong. All it does is attract rats and make our community dirty and unattractive for everyone.

"I'm hoping other mosques and places of worship, and other community groups, will join in and do their own clean ups so we can all work together to help improve our community.”

Any other community group or organisations wanting support to carry out clean ups should contact the council’s streetscene unit at [email protected] or 01282 425011.