The mayor took time off from running the £1bn budget Tower Hamlets Council public services to pick up rubbish in Mile End Park.

East London Advertiser: John Biggs tidying up Mile End Park. Picture: LBTHJohn Biggs tidying up Mile End Park. Picture: LBTH (Image: LBTH)

There was so much litter in the park and in the streets that John Biggs even recruited children from Poplar's Mayflower School to help out.

"Keeping the East End clean is a responsibility we all share," he points out. "People joined us with their litter pickers, despite the weather, to make a difference in their communities."

Volunteers were out and about from Mile End to the Isle of Dogs, with families in Millwall making an outing of it to spruce up East Ferry Road.

Some 70 bags of rubbish were picked up, along with recyclable waste that was also collected.

East London Advertiser: Even schoolchildren from Poplar's Mayflower Primary get involved in Tower Hamlets Council's Big Clean Up campaign. Picture: LBTHEven schoolchildren from Poplar's Mayflower Primary get involved in Tower Hamlets Council's Big Clean Up campaign. Picture: LBTH (Image: LBTH)

The council has run 71 clean-ups since 2017, but also has a voluntary programme for sharing information about repairs needed, reporting flytipping and getting abandoned vehicles towed off.