A helpful youngster has taken to the streets to pick litter and clean up his community.

Five-year-old Louie Bauld, of Longtown, has become enamoured by the practice of litter picking ever since his mum, Suzie Skelton, bought him a litter picker a week ago.

Since then, Suzie said he’s been out and about picking up litter in the northern part of Longtown.

She said: “He’s taken a shine to it.

“I put up a post about him on Longtown Crack (a Facebook group) and it has had so much support.

“We’re now thinking about getting a litter picking team set up in Longtown, with kids involved, and because I’ve got a fitness company, we’ll incorporate fitness.”

What may appear to be simply a hobby is also something of a necessity, as Suzie explained: “We’ve got no bins at all at the top of Longtown, so there is a big litter problem, it makes the town look so scruffy.

“We’re mainly concentrating on the areas where the young’uns hang around at night, where there is a lot of litter.”

It may not just be a hobby for much longer, as he’s started earning money for his work.

“He’s just been doing it for a week, but he really loves it.

“People have been coming by and one woman gave him money, he got £5 from her, and a lot of people have shared messages of support.”

While Louie focuses on his litter-picking, he has bigger plans in the pipeline, as he said he wants to fix the potholes in his town too, but mum thinks it’s best he waits before making the leap to road repair.

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