Over 7 tonnes of rubbish cleared in latest Clear It event including a fridge and a unicorn head

7.5 tonnes of waste, including fridges, a unicorn head and an amusement ride have been removed from an alleyway in Grimsby.

Castle Street, on the East Marsh, is the latest private alleyway to be cleared as part of North East Lincolnshire Council’s Clear It Scheme.

With Clear It, the Voluntary Community Clearance scheme, the Council aims to support communities to come together, safely clean up an alleyway or an open space in their area and improve community pride.

Volunteers were faced with a 6ft high wall of rubbish

Volunteers take responsibility for removing waste from an alleyway or patch of land and Council staff help dispose of it. The Council also provide equipment such as large bins.

A number of volunteers helped to remove some of the 6ft wall of rubbish from either side of the alleyway, removing more than 50 wheelie bin loads of household waste. Council lorries removed larger items such as fridges, doors and a football table.

A number of volunteers came to help remove the waste in an attempt to improve their local area.

Also in attendance was Portfolio Holder for Environment and Transport Councillor Stewart Swinburn. He said: “We’re working with the community to clear as many problem alleyways as we can.

North East Lincolnshire Council provided a number of bins and a removal service to help get rid of the waste

“As you can see, the waste we found down this alley is phenomenal, it’s not acceptable and the irresponsible people who are causing these issues need to be dealt with.”

He also thanked the selfless effort of volunteers who came to help remove the waste. “These volunteers are doing a fantastic job. Everybody is working together to improve this alleyway and I’m very proud to say this is a North East Lincolnshire Council initiative.

“We’ve already seen the benefits this scheme can bring to places like Oxford Court where teams removed over 16 tonnes, vastly improving the aesthetics and accessibility for local residents.”

A number of other sites have been identified as part of the Clear It scheme and will be cleaned in the coming weeks. This scheme is now closed for this year, but all requests booked before the closing date of January 31^st will be honoured.