The crew at Church Street McDonald's in Woolwich have rolled up their sleeves and spent hours litter picking and cleaning up their local area.

The McDonald's branch said they were committed to fighting litter in Woolwich, and wanted to take pride in their local area, so teamed up with local police for the litter pick.

In total, the nine crew members of the Church Street McDonald's collected 28 bags of litter around the Riverside and Dockyard area, an impressive haul.

Littering is a popular issue in south east London, one that was exacerbated in the first lockdown as people flocked to parks, but left their waste behind.

Concerns were also raised by residents in Greenwich and Bexley when the major fast food establishments reopened in June.

One resident took to photographing rubbish found in streets near the McDonald's drive-thu in Woolwich to showcase the level of waste.

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The crew's latest effort was part of the Keep Britain Tidy campaign to clean up local communities this autumn, and the staff also have free time on their hands as McDonald's restaurants are all currently closed except for takeaways during lockdown 2.0.

McDonald’s franchisee Taimoor Sheikh, who owns and operates six restaurants in the local area, said: “I’m really proud of the Church Street team for rolling up their sleeves and helping clean up the Dockyard and Riverside.

"I know many of the crew live in and around Woolwich so for them, it will be about having local pride in the local area.

"We’re committed to fighting litter in Woolwich and would like to thank the police for coming to lend their support."

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The volunteers split up into groups of six, and to ensure guidelines were followed, remained 2 metres away from each other at all times.

All workers also wore their own PPE and face masks.

McDonald's says its crews have been cleaning up litter dropped in 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.