More than 100 volunteers turned out to take part in the Royston in Bloom’s Big Town Centre Tidy Up.

The Tidy Up took place on Sunday and saw the team of volunteers take to the town centre armed with brooms and litter-pickers.

Committee chairman Les Baker said: “The response we received from the community was quite overwhelming and made the whole exercise worthwhile.

“It was remarkable the amount of rubbish we collected during the day from the town centre and the Priory Memorial Gardens.

“It should be emphasised, however, that this was a tidy-up exercise and in no way is it a criticism of the day-to-day cleaning of the town centre.

“We went to places which are probably untouched in the usual routine cleaning of the town centre, which have accumulated debris over recent times.”

The volunteers who carried-out both a morning and afternoon session, included residents and councillors, and those from such groups as the Royston Time Bank, the Royston Volunteer Centre, Royston Parish Church, Royston WI, and the Rotary Club of Royston.

There were more than 30 Cub Scouts from the 10th Royston, who set about a cleaning session in Market Hill and in the Priory Memorial Gardens.

The project was supported by the Royston-based cleaning and hygiene company Smith and Coburn, as well as North Herts District Council, Tesco, and Morrisons.

Mr Baker said: “The spreading of litter can make a place look unattractive and we wanted to prevent the town centre getting such a reputation.

“Our aim was to say that we have cleaned up – now keep it that way.”

“Part of the role of Royston in Bloom is to enhance and sustain our environment and we saw the clean-up in the town centre as part of this.”

Members of the committee had made a tour of the town centre several weeks earlier and identified a number of problems.

These included blocked drains and loose paving – issues which will be included in a report to be presented to the town council’s general purposes and highways committee.