Litter equating to 17 elephants in weight collected in Regent’s Park during June
Litter left in Regent's Park. Picture: Royal Parks - Credit: Archant
Litter left in Regent’s Park has skyrocketed amid the coronavirus lockdown.
There was 58.94 tonnes of rubbish collected this June in the green space - the equivalent of 17 elephants.
Staff racked up 1,853 hours picking it up,not including time spent emptying bins, and they have sometimes started at 5am to tackle the problem.
This is despite the cancellation of events, theatre and sports.
Collectors in all of the eight Royal Parks found 258.4 tonnes of litter, which is the same as 20 new London buses.
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This is a 32 per cent rise compared to June 2019, and left items have even included a Christmas tree and office furniture.
Tom Jarvis, director of parks at The Royal Parks, said it was fantastic to see so many visitors: “The downside is the litter. We’ve never seen anything like this before.”
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It is launching a Summer of Kindness campaign to inspire visitors to care for the spaces.
READ MORE: Hampstead Heath managers looking at new ways to tackle rubbish
