To mark its 'big birthday', Keep Britain Tidy is rallying people to support this year's Great British Spring Clean.
Last year, around 350,000 volunteers nationwide gathered more than 400,000 bags of litter, some of which will have been polluting the environment for much of the charity's seven-decade existence.
The charity is calling on people in the North East to get involved with a #PlatinumPledge after rats were seen eating discarded food in a Durham car park.
The campaign spans March 15-31, with pledges being made on the charity's website www.keepbritaintidy.org.
Simultaneously, many North East schools will participate in the Great Big School Clean, educating students about litter's impact on wildlife.
Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said: "Every year, we are blown away by the incredible work done by communities, schools, voluntary organisations, businesses and local authorities to support the Great British Spring Clean."
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