IMPASSIONED mini environmentalists in Whitehaven have been inspired after seeing the effects of litter on animals.

The youngsters took a trip to Strudda Bank Farm near Cold Fell and were given a tour by farmer Kevin Holliday – who showed how his livestock can be affected by careless littering.

The group of St Gregory and St Patrick’s Catholic Infant School reception pupils are now fighting to keep their town tidy and have made a plea to litter louts.

Teacher Jo Jones said the trip made the children more concerned about their environment and gave them more of an idea about the effects of littering.

She said: “They learnt that cows and other animals can end up eating litter after it is blown around by the wind. After they had been up close to animals and fed them, it made them understand the danger of leaving rubbish on the ground.”

The children were also shocked when they saw the amount of litter on and around the cycle path near their school.

The youngsters often take trips to Whitehaven Garden Centre along the path and decided to take action to clean the area up. One of the school’s pupils, Sofia Redmond, sent an open letter called ‘Put the rubbish in the bin. Please be clever’.

“I went with my class to the garden centre and we saw lots of rubbish,” she said. “We want people to put their rubbish in the bin.”

Another reception pupil, Evie Johnston, pleaded with adults to pick up their rubbish and make the land look better so that everybody can enjoy it. The children have recently been learning about growing fruit and vegetables and respecting the environment.

To illustrate what they had been learning about in the classroom, the children went for a walk along the nearby cycletrack to take in their surroundings.

When the pupils noticed the mess, they were learning about the local wildlife by searching for tadpoles and making note of the signs of spring.

Ms Jones said: “People dump all kinds of things around there, we have even seen shopping trolleys dumped in the beck. Some of it is rubbish that has been blown out of bins but a lot of it has just been left there.

“At the school we are trying to teach the children to respect their environment and now they are trying to get adults to respect it too.”