Trowbridge Lions Club, with the support of the Wiltshire Times, Trowbridge in Bloom, Trowbridge Town Council and the Chamber of Commerce, are cracking down on litter in the county town.

The Lions want to see Trowbridge become litter free in 2015, and this week have launched a poster campaign to start things off.

The Lions want local youngsters to lead the way by designing posters for the campaign.

Lions president Graeme Dunn said: “The idea behind the competition is to educate children now about the scourge of litter, to encourage them not to drop litter and get their parents to do the same.

“There are a number of hotspots for litter in Trowbridge, traffic lights and junctions in particular. The West Ashton crossroad is among the worst, where people sit in the queue and just chuck stuff out of the car window. Another hotspot is by the Civic Centre, where kids sit on the wall and throw their litter on the ground.

“If we can help keep it litter-free then it will make Trowbridge a more pleasant place for everybody to live in.”

Wiltshire Times editor Gary Lawrence said: “The amount of litter on the streets is something people in Trowbridge do care about, we get many letters complaining about the state of some areas of the town and have covered residents’ efforts to improve things by holding litter picks and clean-ups. If we can help stop people dropping litter in the first place, then that would be a huge step forward.

“I hope lots of young artists enter the campaign, and we’d like to be able to feature the winning entries in the Wiltshire Times.”

Lions members will be visiting primary and secondary schools this autumn to discuss litter issues with the children, and encourage them to enter the competition.

They would also love groups like the Brownies, Cubs, Scouts and Guides to encourage youngsters to get creative, and are hoping to tap into some of the fantastic talent and enthusiasm of local youngsters.

The competition has two age groups, for primary and secondary aged children, with the top three entrants in each age group winning book tokens: the winner in each age group also wins £100 for their school/youth group, plus a donation of £50 to a charity of their choice.

The entry form is available to download from www.trowbridgelions.com. Entry details are on the website: posters and completed entry forms can also be left at the Wiltshire Times office at 15 Duke Street, Trowbridge, during opening hours Monday-Wednesday 9am-5pm, Thursday and Friday 9am-3pm.

In the New Year, the Lions are planning to get out on the streets with their anti-litter drive, organising litter picks around Trowbridge and getting organisations involved to make Trowbridge a cleaner, healthier, more pleasant place to live.