DETERMINED six-year-old James Crombie has spent more than 20 hours gathering litter, and raising funds for charity in the process.

His mum, Lucie, said James himself had the idea of collecting rubbish and then, following his school’s adoption of Guide Dogs for the Blind as its charity, he wanted to gain sponsorship for his efforts.

James, who is a pupil at Ditcham Park School and lives on the Herne Farm estate at Petersfield, has decided that Children in Need will also share the £143 he raised over four months of hard work.

Helped by family and friends, he started in the winter months and continued whenever he could, visiting waste and leisure land in the Petersfield area armed with gloves, a litter picker and plastic bags to contain the large amount of rubbish they found.

The heath, river bank, football pitches, the streets of the Herne estate and places such as Sheet were among the litter hot spots.

“It was amazing how much rubbish we collected,” said Lucie.

“But we did have fun.

“James has personally put in over 20 hours of hard work over the last four months and done a great community service as well as raising £143.

“He set himself a goal of raising £100 and he did that, plus more.

“He has been very determined and dedicated and his family is very proud of his achievement,” added Lucie.

Junior pupils at Ditcham Park School raised £1,500 in the past year to pay for the training of a Guide Dog.