Schoolchildren have been learning all about littering and waste reduction during a special workshop organised by Allerdale Borough Council.

The council’s education and enforcement manager Claire McAvoy visited Victoria Infant School in Workington last week to speak with pupils about the environment and how everyone can play their part in protecting it.

The session focused on messages around the three Rs – reduce, reuse and recycle.

The youngsters learned about the different ways to keep the area around them clean and drew pictures which linked the messages to their local community.

Cotton bags were decorated with anti-litter messages and it is hoped that the youngsters will use them rather than single-use plastic ones.

Claire said: “It is crucial our young people learn as much as they can about the environment and why it is so important to keep our communities clean.

“It was a pleasure to work with such a great group of children.

“I think everyone had a great time and I’m sure they will spread the messages we discussed within their communities.”

About 14 pupils from the school took part, ranging from reception to Year 2 students.

Year 1 class teacher Beth Gebbie said: “The kids absolutely loved the session and really like what tasks Claire did with them.

“They loved decorating the bags and can’t wait for Claire to come back.”

This isn’t the first time the school’s pupils have been discussing the environment and how they can be more green going forward as many of them have been working on projects on this subject over the last few months.

The council will run similar workshops in other schools across the borough and anyone interested in finding out more can contact claire.mcavoy@allerdale.gov.uk for more information.

To find out more about the work Allerdale does to keep the area clean go to https://www.allerdale.gov.uk/en/cleaning-allerdale/.

As well as educating people on environmental and recycling issues, the council does also take enforcement action against those who break the law.

In the past few weeks the authority has issued a number of fines to people who have been caught littering, fly-tipping and not picking up after their dogs.

Among them was a fine for £700 for fly-tipping at Oldside, Workington, where a business owner was given a fixed penalty notice for fly-tipping and failing in his duty of care.

And last week a woman was fined £150 for littering after being caught discarding a McDonald’s cup in the street around the harbour area of Workington.