LOCAL McDonald’s staff have taken part in litter picks around Somerset this summer in a bid to keep their local areas tidy.

A total of 130 crew volunteers and helpers from the McDonald’s restaurants in Taunton, Weston-super-Mare, Yeovil, Bridgwater, Minehead, Portishead and Street collected more than 100 full bags of rubbish between them this summer – which included tyres, toasters and kettles, and several shoes.

The restaurant chain has pledged to produce 100 per cent recyclable or compostable packaging this year with a goal to achieve zero-waste by 2027.

Local McDonald’s franchisee, Tim Lamb, owns and operates 13 restaurants around Somerset. He said: “As McDonald’s celebrates its 50th year in the UK, we continue to put people at the very heart of what we do, and this is just one example of our dedication to being a good neighbour.”

McDonald’s crew members have been cleaning up litter dropped in local communities for more than 35 years.

Crews across the UK cover a total of 5,000 miles each week on litter patrols. This equates to 260,000 miles since the programme began in the late ‘80s.

McDonald’s is tackling litter in local communities, both by litter picking and reducing the amount of waste its restaurants produce.

The brand has been working to make recycling easier over the past four years too, and since 2015, has installed over 1,100 new recycling units, meaning it’s easier to separate plastics and cups for recycling in 85 per cent of its restaurants.