A GROUP of volunteers from a Somerset branch of McDonald’s came together recently to do their bit in a bid to keep the county tidy.

Staff from the restaurant in Lysander Road, Yeovil, united to litter pick in their local area as part of the McDonald’s ‘Keep Up the Clean Up’ campaign, which sees teams of McDonald’s volunteers take to the streets to tackle litter in their communities.

The group embarked on the challenge to give Lysander Park a refresh, collecting litter and removing weeds from the area, helping to improve the overall presentation of the park.

A team of 15 volunteers collected an impressive 26 bags of litter overall.

McDonald’s franchisee Tim Lamb, who owns and operates the restaurant in Yeovil, said: “McDonald’s has been collecting litter in our communities for over 35 years, and I’m proud of our litter fighting heritage.

"It’s more important than ever we do our bit to keep Yeovil an enjoyable place to live, work and visit by joining the fight against litter.

"I would like to thank my staff for giving up their time for this event."

McDonald’s says crews across the UK cover a total of 3,000 miles each week on litter patrols (where they collect litter from any origin, not just their own). This equates to 150,000 miles, or the distance of four marathons per restaurant per year.

The fast-food giant has also set itself the target of sending zero waste to landfill by 2020.

The chain also says it has been working to make recycling easier over the past four years, installing more than 1,100 new recycling units since 2015, meaning it’s easier to separate plastics and cups for recycling in 85% of its restaurants.

McDonald’s also collects used oil from its kitchens and turns this into enough biodiesel to fuel more than half of its delivery fleet.