ONE man and his dog have been using their lockdown exercise to keep the streets clean.

Litter champ Wayne Dixon, 49, and Koda have been litter picking around Britain but lockdown saw them having to stay local, with the duo getting out every day to keep the streets of Blackburn and Darwen tidy.

Wayne is a member of Facebook groups Keep Blackburn Tidy and Keep Darwen Tidy and hopes he is not just seen as a litter picker but that people in the community recognise him as more than that.

He said: “Litter picking has really kicked off in Blackburn and Darwen in the past two and a half years and that’s mainly down to the two major Facebook pages.

“With the first few weeks I found that, at times, I am the only person out in the community. Especially over the past few months, I have been able to meet a lot of local people. I like to think I am doing a bit more than just picking up the litter.”

Wayne, from Blackburn, and Koda have raised tens of thousands of pounds travelling the 7,000 mile length of the coastline of Great Britain since February 2016, picking up every piece of rubbish they find to raise awareness of the litter epidemic.

He got Koda from his father when he died in 2017 and believes having the dog makes him more approachable to everyone but especially for people who may be isolated and alone with few people to talk to.

He added: “Me just wandering past their house or even being sat outside the shop on a day to day basis, especially having Koda, a lot of people gravitate to you. I like to think I am a bit of fresh air in the community.”

Wayne moved back to the area several years ago but he was sad to see many areas of the town in disarray, which sparked him to begin litter picking. He said: “The litter picking has come from me leaving Blackburn when I was younger and coming back to see areas not improving.

“There are communities that were nice 10 or 20 years ago that are not nice anymore and it's affected me. It’s something I think about - improving communities."