AROUND 60 children cleared their town of 20 bags of rubbish as they raised awareness of the impact climate change could have locally.

Members of Hexham Youth 4 Climate, a youth section of Hexham Climate Action, organised a litter pick in the town to highlight the negative impacts leaving rubbish can have on the world.

Erik Hill Blaske and Julian Ackermann , both 14 said: “Plastic is on the rise with the equivalent volume of 3.2 million cars being dumped into our oceans annually.

“Not only is this affecting our sea life but, with the consumption of fish and evaporating water, the micro-plastics are finding their way into every food chain across the world. To combat this, we are here today, not only to raise awareness, but also to help the local area by litter picking in the park as the litter here could easily find its way into the water system.”

Following the collection of the litter, the youths posted a letter to Hexham’s MP Guy Opperman demanding he and fellow politicians take immediate action to fight climate change.

This is the second event organised by Hexham Youth 4 Climate following their involvement in the global School Strike 4 Action last month, with around 250 local schoolchildren attending.