PUPILS from two Irvine schools have been taking action to encourage people to clean up their act.

Members of the eco-committee at Irvine Royal Academy and Castlepark Primary School joined police officers and colleagues from North Ayrshire Council Street Scene to highlight the issues in the area and have them cleaned up on Friday, June 12 PC Claire Smith, Campus Police Officer at Irvine Royal Academy, commented “A few weeks back we joined the pupils on a walkabout in the area and they highlighted their concerns in relation to litter, dog fouling and fly tipping. Since then the pupils have been organising a series of activities to take action on these issues.” The pupils created 'flags’ which were used by Local Authority staff to highlight the issue of dog fouling and litter around the nearby community centre and youth centre.

PC Smith continued “The flags have today highlighted the scale of the dog fouling and litter problem in the area - the pupils have been speaking with dog walkers in the area, providing them with free bags and encouraging them to 'bag it and bin it’. We all have a responsibility to keep our communities clean - we will be working with our colleagues and pupils again in the coming weeks to further improve the area.” Pupils recently highlighted speeding motorists as a concern and on Friday morning officers were monitoring the speed of vehicles on Castlepark Road – two fixed penalty notices were issued to drivers allegedly exceeding the speed limit while a further seven drivers were spoken to and given advice regarding their driving.

Anyone with concerns relating to environmental crime in their area is encouraged to contact Police Scotland by cing 101 or to contact their Local Authority for further information and advice.