MORE than 40 litter pickers turned out to tidy two communities.

Mistley Parish Council and Manningtree Council organised the two litter picks at the same time.

But almost twice the normal amount of volunteers turned out and businesses supported the Mistley event with tea, coffee, squash and donuts.

Mistley parish councillor Charlotte Howell said: “This time for the first time we were bowled over by the generosity of local businesses.

“The Co-op always give us tea bags for afterwards and Tesco gave us coffee and sugar, milk and squash.

“And De-aths Bakery crafted us 50 handmade jam doughnuts, I was over the moon.”

Rhys Thompson, from Mistley Fencing and Landscaping, which took part in the litter pick, said: “We are a small local, growing business and had been in discussion with the idea of giving back to the community, we then joined Mistley Parish Council.

“We at Mistley Fencing and Landscaping are committed to cutting litter and ending waste and have recently signed up to the Keep Britain Tidy scheme with the hope of a spring clean to commence in April at a larger scale.”

About nine volunteers helped pick up rubbish around Manningtree and were given free tea and coffee at the Red Lion afterwards to thank them for their efforts.