Members of a neighbourhood litter pickers team who were stopped from using Derby council's litter-pickers, are back on the streets thanks to a letting agent and landlords. 

Earlier this month the Normanton Empowerment Team were stopped in a street by council officials and ordered to lay down their litter-pickers.

In another case of Health and Safety madness, the council told the team that under the Health and Safety Act, they had a duty of care to those using its equipment - even though the team had used the pickers for over a year.

The team did consider the training option, however the majority of helpers who are employed would be discouraged by giving up their time knowing that they had to enrol in a training session. So they decided to hand back their "weapons" against litter.

However common sense and community spirit prevailed as a lettings agent and a few landlords decided to fund the team's own litter-pickers.
 

Michelle Gardiner, a landlord of several properties in the Normanton area, was one of the landlords who provide a cash boost to the fund.

She said: “I think the area needs some help and the team are doing a great job. What happened with the council is sad.”

The Normanton empowerment team is waging a constant battle against fly-tipping in the area, the council to its credit is embarking upon a number of schemes to stop this happening, including provision of evening patrols.

Mrs. Gardiner said she was fully committed to stop rubbish being left in the streets, she always made sure that waste from property revamps was quickly removed.

She said: “If they’ve got any issues [with rubbish] I say to tenants to give us a call and we’ll come and deal with it if you can’t.”

Landlords and the letting agent provided litter-pickers, bin bags, gloves, and high-visibility vests, worth more than £250.

Lyn Kelly, from the letting agent said fly-tipping was on the increase and causes a real headache to some of her tenants.

She said: “I went to one home recently for an inspection and found that someone had dumped a sofa outside their door. It’s a common issue for that house.”

Dawn Gee, from the empowerment team was highly delighted the money had been raised so quickly for the team of volunteers.

Mrs. Gee said: “It shows that there are good landlords and letting agents out there. It’s great that they value the work we do.”