Congratulations to the litter-pickers of Surbiton’s Sunray estate for landing a £3,000+ grant from the council’s neighbourhood committee to embark on a major project to clear their cluttered and fly-tipped alleys and service roads.

The Sunray and Egmont Community Residents’ Association has been awarded £3,090 to tackle the issue of antisocial dumping in the maze of byways and tracks which lead off Elmdene, Vincent Avenue, Hazel Bank, Rayleigh Drive and Knollmead.

SECra is recruiting street reps to act as its eyes and ears and identify issues as they crop up, but many of the service roads that wind around the estate have been blighted by persistent dumping of waste, and lazy muggles tipping building materials or mattresses out of the backs of vans and trucks.

From March 20 to April 13, the Great British Spring Clean event is taking place, as part of Keep Britain Tidy, and the litter-pickers of the estate – some of whom are pictured here – will be participating once again.

Anyone wanting to join in should congregate on the green at Barnsbury Crescent at 10am on Saturday April 4, where litter-picking grabbers and waste bags will be available. Just bring enthusiasm.

Councillors on Surbiton Neighbourhood Committee unanimously backed the grant. “It’s amazingly ambitious,” said Cllr Hilary Gander. Cllr Sharron Sumner added: “You’re doing a wonderful job.” Cllr Diane White described the drive to clean up the estate as “a brilliant community effort”.