COMMUNITIES across the Cotswolds can get their hands on a £1,000 prize by organising a clean-up to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday.

The district council is taking Keep Britain Tidy's initiative to 'Clean for the Queen' and improve the appearances of the places we live in time for the milestone birthday on April 21 one step further.

Thanks to a donation of £1,000 from waste service provider Ubico Ltd, the council is offering the money as a prize to the community that does the best job.

From now until the end of April, communities across the district will be able to enter the competition. All they need to do it contact the council and provide the location scheduled for a litter pick, together with the name of a community representative who will liaise with the council.

Before and after photographs of the area to be tidied will be required, as well as details about the size of the work party.

When the competition concludes, the representatives will meet a panel of Cotswold District Council judges at the clean-up location to assist them in assessing the improvements.

The winning group will be required to spend the prize money on improving or maintaining the appearance of their community.

Cllr Sue Coakley, CDC Cabinet Member for Health, Environment and Communities, hopes that local groups across the District will take up this challenge:

“We live in an extremely beautiful area and many residents take great pride in its appearance. This national campaign provides an excellent opportunity for them to get outdoors in the spring weather and help rid the Cotswolds of unsightly litter. The award of the £1,000 prize is an added incentive, but I think every volunteer will be a winner if they can help tackle this blight on our environment.

“We can supply bags, pickers, gloves and high visibility jackets for clean-up work, but it would be of real benefit to our environmental team if we could stagger the take-up over the next few weeks, as we have limited resources. We can also arrange special collections of filled bags after litter picks."

Further details can be obtained by emailing the council on cdc@cotswold.gov.uk or ringing 01285 623123.