Two neighbours are leading a campaign to clean up the streets of Malmesbury.

For the last two years, Julie Taylor, 60, and her 14-year-old neighbour Ben Thornbury have volunteered to clear litter in the town.

In just the past few weeks, the pair have cleaned slippery leaves by the Abbey steps where one of Julie’s friends had previously had a fall, cleaned up litter on King’s Wall and also several alleyways.

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

Julie said: “We do this because we like helping the community.

"Me and Ben have been doing this for two years now and we try to go out anytime we both have a free weekend.

“I would say we usually go out every two weeks, spending a couple of hours at a time clearing litter.

“Most of the litter we find is as expected, wrappers, rubbish and sometimes glass.

“We clean all around the town, alleyways, pavements, anywhere that needs clearing up.”

Ben wants to encourage more residents to join them and help make the community a better place.

He said: “The reason I do all the cleaning around Malmesbury is because I want to keep the place looking clean and tidy and that is my main goal to achieve.

“I encourage anyone who has free time to do the same whether it’s an overgrown hedge or picking up litter, every little bit helps.

"Our goal is to get more people involved in the future with our cleaning projects.

“And we will also keep you updated in the future about what we have cleaned.”

The pair aim to clear more places in the town this year and have a list full of areas they will look to tackle, but they still rely on residents to suggest locations to clean.