Children at Wootey Infant School in Alton are among pupils from five more schools taking part in the Litter Picker Backpack scheme thanks to a grant from East Hampshire district councillor Ginny Boxall.

The idea came from pupils at St Mary’s Bentworth CE Primary School who attended the Young Alton Climate Action Network Schools Eco Conference last year.

They were given the challenge of solving an environmental problem in their school and devised a system to allow families of pupils to collect rubbish during weekends by providing a litter picker, gloves and a bag inside a backpack.

Everyone at Wootey Infants is a member of the school’s eco group Planet Protectors.