A WORCESTER litter picker went from rubbish to writing when he decided to pen his own book.

Elon Dann is a familiar sight to his neighbours in Warndon Villages as he regularly collects rubbish and abandoned trolleys on behalf of the Duckworth Worcester Trust. But the 46-year-old decided to turn his hand from litter to literature while volunteering.

His novel, Clockwise to Titan, is an escape and survival adventure featuring three teenagers. It is aimed at 11 to 16-year-olds and follows the three as they become trapped in a detention centre known as the Institute.

“The tag line for the novel is a Shawshank Redemption for younger readers,” said Mr Dann, who works at an IT firm in Malvern and lives in Clarkson Gardens, Worcester, with his wife Helen Kitson, who is also a writer, son Josef, aged 13, and daughter Jane, 10.

“Employing all their cunning and resourcefulness the three heroes plan and execute their breakout using nothing but rubbish and the things they find close to hand.

“Clockwise to Titan came to me as a title when my son misunderstood advice I gave him as we worked with a Meccano set. Helping him to fasten a bolt, my instruction to him had been turn it clockwise to tighten, but he really thought I meant Titan, the moon of Saturn.

“The funny phrase stuck with me as I went litter picking. I always loved authentic, gritty prison-break stories and although I had never written anything longer than a shopping list before, I found myself building a complete story in my head around that title.”

Clockwise to Titan was published at the beginning of April by Hot Key Books.