MORE than 1,000 bags of rubbish were collected in Southall as Labour MP for Ealing Virendra Sharma teamed up with McDonald’s in an effort to make the area tidier last month.

Franchisee Atul Pathak gathered a team of more than 100 people for the ‘Love Where You Live’ event, including council members, 58 McDonald’s staff members and even passers-by who were impressed by their efforts on Friday, September 2.

The group worked together to clean up litter around Southall Broadway, Southall Park – including the orchard – and the area by the canal.

Mr Sharma was delighted with the efforts of the volunteers, which is just one of numerous events taking place throughout the country in an effort to combat litter.

He said: “It was fantastic to see all the volunteers from McDonald’s get involved in cleaning up their community and helping to create a place that everyone can be proud of.

“I would like to thank McDonald’s for inviting me along to take part in the litter event. It is important that we all come together to help to look after our community and keep it looking clean and tidy.”

2016 marks the sixth year of McDonald’s and Keep Britain Tidy’s ongoing partnership that has seen more than 1,900 events take place, involving more than 57,000 volunteers.

As well as this, staff members at McDonald’s all over the UK regularly patrol the streets trying to keep them tidy, covering a yearly distance of five marathons each per store.

Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: “To win the war on litter everyone needs to work together, with businesses having an exciting part to play.

“McDonald’s Love Where You Live initiative, together with their day-to-day commitment to tackling the problem through their litter patrols and their ongoing support of Keep Britain Tidy, is an example of how a business can make a real difference.”