Most volunteer litter pickers devote an hour or two to the task over the occasional weekend...

But 26-year-old Carlisle man Richard Foster has taken his passion for keeping his home city free from unsightly litter to a completely different level.

Every day, Richard works tirelessly to purge the city’s streets of other people’s rubbish.

However harsh the weather may be, Richard can be seen scouring Carlisle’s streets, collecting as many as 15 bag-fulls of litter every single day.

He’s a one-man war on litter.

Some people – including his father Robert, 61 – fear that Richard may at times be risking his own safety as he dashes into busy roads to collect every last piece of litter.

But despite this fear, everybody seems to agree that Richard is providing a first-class service – at no cost to anybody.

“I’ve been doing it for the last six years,” explained Richard.

“I used to work at Cavaghan & Gray on the packaging line, but I’ve always had an interest in the environment and the natural world.

“I just like to keep this place tidy.”

A former pupil of St Aidan’s School in Carlisle, Richard was interested as a younger man in training to become an engineer, but his passion in adulthood has become he environment.

In particular, he is determined to do all that he can to keep his home city litter free.

Every day, between 5am and 6am, he leaves his Mayfield Avenue home in Harraby, Carlisle, and begins a seven hours litter-picking shift, walking around 20 miles.

He is now a familiar sight on Carlisle’s busiest streets, including Shaddongate, Bochergate, and London Road.

“I’ve occasionally found watches, phones, and even discarded shoes – but it’s mostly litter,” said Richard.

Asked how local people have reacted to what he does, he replied: “It’s mostly positive.

“I know that the council does this kind of work, but I don’t think that they’re able to do enough. I’d love the Council to give me a job doing this. But it’s a real privilege to do this work.”

His father Robert added: “Richard knows exactly what he’s doing but I’d just like to be sure he’s doing it in a safe manner. It would be good if the council could give him a job.

“That way, he would be paid for the work he does and I could be sure he’s collecting litter safely.

“But there’s absolutely no doubt that he is totally devoted to what he is doing, and he is keeping the streets of Carlisle clean. He goes out every single day.”