A GROUP of six crew members from the McDonald’s restaurant in Malvern have been working hard to keep the local area clean and tidy, committing to daily litter picks on Townsend Way at least four times a day, adopting and taking care of the road as part of their daily routine.

The restaurant team have also joined forces with the local community and key council members, including Helen Gunton and local councillor Sharon Taylor from the Malvern Environmental Group, and Claire Vaughan of Malvern Hills District Council, to ensure they are tackling surrounding areas known for having high amounts of litter.

The litter patrol covers the main road, grass verges and forest in the surrounding area from the roundabout by the Formula 1 garage on Townsend Way up to the roundabout by the Malvern Spa.

More than 40 bags of litter have been collected this year alone, with more than 15 bags of litter collected in the forest area behind the retail park, which was a key problem area and completely covered in litter previously.

Crew members ensure they are in groups of no more than six and always maintain a two-metre distance during litter picks, to ensure social distancing rules are followed.

All volunteers wear their own PPE and facemasks, and all equipment is sanitised before and after litter picks.

McDonald’s franchisee Sarah McLean, who owns and operates 21 restaurants across the East and West Midlands, including the Malvern restaurant, said: "I’m really proud of my team for giving their time and efforts to do their bit for our fellow Malvern residents.

"McDonald’s is committed to fighting litter in our local communities and we are really happy with the difference we continue to make."

Ian Callaghan, business manager of the Townsend Way restaurant, said: "As a new team, we are excited to continue making a big impact in the local community and look forward to building relationships for future community projects."

McDonald’s crew members have been cleaning up litter dropped in our local communities for over 35 years.

Crews across the UK cover a total of 5,000 miles each week on litter patrols (where they collect litter from any origin, not just their own.)

This equates to 260,000 miles, or the distance from Earth to the Moon.

McDonald’s is tackling litter in local communities, both by litter picking and reducing the amount of waste its restaurants produce.

The brand has been working to make recycling easier over the past 4 years, and since 2015 has installed over 1,100 new recycling units, meaning it’s easier to separate plastics and cups for recycling in 85% of its restaurants.

McDonald’s also collects used oil from its kitchens and turns this into enough biodiesel to fuel more than half of its delivery fleet.