MP Jim Fitzpatrick won’t get his hands dirty cleaning up his East End constituency

MP Jim Fitzpatrick put on a thick pair of protective gloves and donned a high-visibility jacket to join Tower Hamlets Council’s volunteer army of litter pickers in a Big Clean Up battle.

Clothcapped Mayor Biggs joins the MP at Chrisp Streert Market where volunteers went on a mass litter picking. Picture: LBTH - Credit: LBTH

The Poplar and Limehouse politician was determined to make a clean sweep of his East End constituency which includes Canary Wharf, while taking a welcome break from the Brexit chaos at Westminster.

“We all need to do more to reduce litter on our streets,” the MP insisted. “The ‘clean up’ brings people together with a common goal of taking pride in the East End.”

He kicked off by picking litter at the Isle of Dogs, in the shadow of Canary Wharf’s skyscrapers, then joined the spruce up around Poplar’s Chrisp Street Market with mayor John Biggs also pitching in.

The volunteers collected 100 bags of rubbish as well as scooping up useful waste for recycling.

Tower Hamlets Homes also took part with its volunteers collecting 20 black bags of litter in Bethnal Green supporting Keep Britain Tidy’s nationwide ‘spring clean’ programme, but with a slightly greener take.

The housing organisation’s chief executive Susmita Sen explained: “We focused on getting planting areas and food gardens weeded and tidied in time to get those spring vegetables growing.”

The ‘clean up’ events have attracted 600 volunteers at 60 events since 2017, all part of the council’s ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ campaign which also targets illegal flytipping and deals with abandoned vehicles.