More than 125 volunteers young and old came out in force last Sunday determined to make Hitchin a cleaner and brighter place.

The Big Hitchin Spring Clean – now in its fifth year – saw community-minded volunteers answer a call to action to 17 different sites in and around the town.

The event, co-ordinated by Hitchin Forum, resulted in more than 200 bags of rubbish collected during the blitz on rubbish.

Among the more unusual items found were a discarded laptop computer, a set of mini scales, a toilet seat extension, a toilet cistern, a six foot metal pipe and a length of tarpaulin 25ft long.

Campaign co-ordinator Ellie Clarke said: “The turnout was amazing and the enthusiasm quite incredible.

“Everyone was so positive and already people are signing up to do it next time.

“Hitchin is a wonderful town for so many reasons but the community spirit so many people show here is incredible. We had volunteers between the ages of four and 77!

“Guides, brownies, cubs, beavers and their leaders and other volunteers also joined in, which was great to see.

“The strangest item was definitely the toilet seat – as one of our volunteers said, it brought a whole new meaning to the word dumping!

“It was such a great effort by so many and we are so thankful. However, it does beg the question just who is throwing all this litter?

“It was great to see so many children aged between four and 12 – that age group is certainly educated not to drop litter – but we’d like more teenagers to join us next time.”

Co-ordinator Lynne Maylin added: “We’d like to thank everyone who joined in on Sunday – without them it wouldn’t have happened.

“We’re also extremely grateful to North Herts District Council for providing pickers and collecting all the bags of rubbish, Hitchin Initiative for publicising the event and Friends of Walsworth Common for lending litter pickers.”