The Calne Clean Up Crew picked up a pram, a car door, hub caps, a metal gate and 54 bags of rubbish when they scoured the verges of the A4 for litter between Calne and Chippenham on Saturday (January 12).

Around 12 volunteers gave up their time at the weekend to clear up rubbish and keep the verges clean and safe, gathering a huge amount of dumped objects and rubbish.

But these are not the strangest thing these environmentally friendly volunteers have collected - last year members found two safes. One was Abberd Brook and the other was lying in Horsebrook. Another peculiar find was a pair of homemade balaclavas.

The Calne Clean Up Crew was set up just under a year ago by local resident Catherine Crofts, who has lived in the town for 16 years and runs a cleaning and gardening business called Prune and Broom.

"I started on my own and thought I would have to talk some friends into helping me, but actually lots of people got behind this," she said. "People go out regularly in their own area, and I can set them up with equipment.

"I was just driving around thinking the litter problem was so bad. Now I am out nearly every day collecting it."

Catherine got the backing and a grant from Calne Town Council and Wiltshire Council's Calne Area Board, and Hills Waste donated litter picking equipment. The project has spread, with a Lower Compton Clean Up Crew and a Hilmarton Clean Up Crew joining the effort.

Last year the Calne group collected well over 1500 bags of refuse, and already in 2019 they have picked up 94 bags - which does not include what individual members have also collected on their own. They found discarded prams, tyres, bikes, scooters, pot plants - and lots of balls.

"We have over 600 followers on Facebook, we have three schools out regularly picking, and approximately 16 areas have been 'adopted ' by people to do on a regular basis in Calne," Catherine said.

Now she wants to spread the word so that a network of groups are working to keep Wiltshire beautiful.

"It's great," she said. "On my way to Chippenham, I could see it all looked so much better."

The Calne Clean Up Crew is meeting next on Sunday (January 20) at 12 noon in Cherhill at the Black Horse, and intend to clear from Calne to Beckhampton. New volunteers are welcome.

For more information about the Clean Up Crew visit the Facebook page or email Calnecleanupcrew@hotmail.com.