A CAMPAIGN is aiming to get more people involved with helping to clean Dorset's countryside.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is working with community campaign Litter Free Dorset to encourage more people to get involved with protecting the countryside from litter.

The campaign will be organising a 'Green Clean' for Dorset throughout September, which will see people get outside for litter picking sessions as part of an effort to clean up the countryside.

A spokesman said: "Litter left in our countryside, streets, parks and rivers isn’t just an eyesore, it can be extremely harmful to wildlife and nature, and cost tax-payers millions of pounds in clean-up costs every year.

"CPRE and Litter Free Dorset are looking for volunteers to help transform Dorset, clearing it of bottles cans and other littered rubbish that is harmful to nature and prevents us from enjoying the green spaces that enrich all our lives."

One litter pick has already taken place in Dorchester on Thursday, September 5, and more are due to take place throughout Dorset over the course of the month.

This year's Green Clean is the second to be organised by the charity. Last year, the cleaners collected hundreds of bags of litter, which included more than 11,000 bottles and cans.

Maddy Haughton-Boakes, Campaign Lead at CPRE, said: "Litter doesn’t belong in our countryside, and through the collective effort of local people, who either live in or simply love the countryside, we can transform our local green spaces back to a beautiful litter-free state.

"Events like CPRE’s Green Clean help to bring communities together for a fantastic and worthwhile cause. Last year we had so much fun, working together with local communities’ right across the country to clean up the countryside. Nobody wants to see their local area awash with litter, and that’s why we want everyone across Dorset to get out and get involved."

As part of the campaign, the CPRE and the cleaners will keep a record of the number of bottles and cans collected. They will use this evidence as part of an effort to pressure the government to create a deposit return system.

This system would aim to increase recycling rates to prevent littering of the countryside.

Anyone looking to find out more or get involved should visit cpre.org.uk/GreenClean or email litterfreedorset@dorsetcc.gov.uk