Residents in Forest Gate took matters into their own hands to clean up their own community by spending time litter picking on the Wanstead Flats.

More than 20 people of all ages from Latimer Road and Chestnut Avenue took to the parkland armed with litter pickers and black bin bags in a “positive protest” to sort out the growing litter problem along Capel Road.

They filled more than 30 black sacks in an hour and a half in a community activity designed to get the message across in a constructive way.

The environmental antics were the brainchild of Angela Haigh who has been a Latimer Road resident for over a decade.

She said: “We are proud of our community and determined to lead by example.

“We love people using the flats but we just wish they would respect the area and take their rubbish home with them.” Other members of the protest expressed exasperation at the situation, noting that Sundays were particularly bad for littering.

Residents called on the City of London Corporation to do more to monitor the environmental blight so that they are not forced to don their protective gloves and litter picker sticks again.