THE Petersfield Society’s eighth town clean-up focused on making the town free of litter for the Remembrance Sunday service in the High Street.

With thousands of residents and visitors expected to attend – many of whom would be clutching cameras – the society wanted the town to be spotless.

Beth Svarovska, one of the society’s trustees, said: “Our volunteers came together to care for the town as a mark of respect to the veterans of The Royal British Legion who organised and attended the service, and to all those from here who have defended our freedom and yet in doing so didn’t have the pleasure of returning to this beautiful town.”

More than 100 volunteers contributed to the team effort, which began with a “deep clean” of Petersfield and the surrounding villages of Buriton, Sheet, Steep and Stroud in the week beforehand.

This effort was supported by Petersfield town mayor Cllr Lesley Farrow, and Damian Hinds, until recently the Member of Parliament for East Hampshire and currently the Conservative candidate for the constituency in next month’s general election.

Society members then set their alarm clocks to undertake a “final polish” of Petersfield town centre early on Sunday morning.

Ms Svarovska said: “We separated the litter for recycling and also did some analysis on it.

“The findings were encouraging. Compared with 112 sacks of litter collected in March, having only cleared the town for Remembrance Sunday 2018, we collected 77 this time.

“Another measurement we have been using is drinks containers. In March we collected 2,567 drinks bottles, cans and cartons, having cleared the town only four months previously.

“This time we collected 1,912 drinks containers after an eight-month gap and having covered a wider area.

“It’s encouraging that things seem to be improving.

“There is still a long way to go, though, as the piles of litter are still astonishing.”

Other measurements that were taken by the society this time included the numbers of disposable cups and plastic bottles with a full plastic wrapper.

There were 332 disposable cups plus a similar number of straws and plastic lids – half of which were of one brand.

Ms Svarovska said: “Of the 501 plastic bottles found, 144 were fully shrink-wrapped in a branded plastic wrapper.

“These bottles could be recyclable but the wrapper prevents the sorting machines from recognising the plastic and so it goes to waste.

“We’ll be following up with the local councils and the new government in the hope of continuing to see improvements in waste management and littering behaviour.”

Those interested in volunteering in the future should email Ms Svarovska at [email protected]