The council’s education and enforcement officer Claire McAvoy has been working with almost 100 children from St Bridget’s School in Brigham over the last few weeks, teaching the keen youngsters about council services, reducing waste, recycling, littering and dog fouling.

Workshops were held with four classes and the children made posters on what they had learned, highlighting messages they would like to spread to residents in their village. Posters on waste reduction, dog fouling and littering were then placed around the village.

Some of the best posters have been chosen to be placed on the side of some of the road sweeper vehicles operating around Allerdale, something which is scheduled to be completed for the autumn term.

Class three teacher Emma Sidwell said: “We really enjoyed taking part in the project and the children have been very keen and enthusiastic about it.

“They are all very proud of their village and school and want to continue to keep it clean and tidy and spread the message to others.”

Cllr George Kemp, Allerdale’s Executive member for environmental quality, said: “We live in a beautiful area and it’s great to see youngsters taking a real interest in keeping our environment in the best condition possible.

“It’s vital we inspire the next generation and programmes like this are a wonderful way of spreading the message and encouraging people to take responsibility for the areas in which they live.”