PUPILS are proving not all youngsters are litter louts after buying street cleaning kits and carrying out rubbish patrols of their neighbourhood.

Woodlands School in Basildon was given £500 by Basildon Council, after its pupils won a competition, to plan how they would spend £1million on community projects to make the town a nicer place to live.

Pupils decided to spend some of the cash on high-visibility jackets, with Woodlands’ logo on the back, as well as sticks with claws on the end to pick up litter from the streets.

Teams of 11 to 16-year-old pupils now use them for regular patrols of streets surrounding the school.

They have picked up a variety of litter using the equipment, including discarded takeaway wrappers and other rubbish.

The first groups, of 11 to 13 year-old pupils, cleared litter from Takely End and Takely Ride.

Other students will move on to Waldegrave, Cherrydown West, Gobions, Codenham Straight and Codenham Green later this week.

Geography teacher Stephanie Ladd, who is co-ordinating the scheme with pupils, said: “Some of the litter they picked up obviously came from the school’s canteen.

“So it was obvious to them pupils are contributing to the problem.

“They wanted to do their best to help clean up the area.

“It’s proving to be a really good lesson for them in social responsibility.”

The plan is for pupils to go out street cleaning several times every month for years to come.

A proportion of the £500 will also be spent on buying bunches of flowers, which pupils will take round as a gift to residents who complain about the school.

Miss Ladd added: “These are all ideas where the students are taking responsibility for what goes on at the school and the surrounding area.

“We don’t get many complaints.

“But it will be nice if the children take flowers to anyone who is unhappy with us.

“Litter is obviously a problem everywhere these days. But our pupils decided they wanted to make a difference locally.

“I’m really proud of them and know they felt a sense of achievement after clearing up.”