Pride in Pill work through lockdown to clear 120 bags of litter from Monkey Island

One particular hotspot has seen 120 bags of litter - and other items - cleared by the group.

Despite people having not been able to gather in groups for a number of months, members of Pride in Pill (PiP) have been venturing out on solo clean-up missions.

One site of particular interest is the Monkey Island area of the city, which the group say has one of the highest levels of litter in the whole of Newport.

PiP described how litter from elsewhere in Newport, which gets discarded or blown into the river, is deposited at Monkey Island by the highest tides - building up over time.

Last year the group cleared 50 bags worth of rubbish from the site.

"We planned to return in 2020 and finish the task," said PiP's Paul Murphy.

"However, the coronavirus restrictions meant that we couldn't do this as a large group event."

READ MORE:

• Man charged following series of Monmouthshire burglaries

• Air ambulance lands in Tintern after 'incident involving gardening equipment'

• Former pupil retires after 40 years working at Newport school

As a result, PiP volunteers have been visiting the site individually between April and June, collecting a few bag-loads at a time.

"With the kind help of the residents of Lysaght Village and Newport City Council's countryside team the last of the bags have now been removed," said Mr Murphy.

"The site should hopefully not need another big clean-up until at least next year."

In total, 120 bags of litter were collected, along with nearly 100 bigger items such as barrels and tyres.

Nearly three quarters of the items collected were recyclable waste.

"Most of this was plastic bottles," said Mr Murphy.

"Clearly, a bottle deposit scheme would make a huge difference to the amount of waste that ends up in our environment."

PiP are now turning their attention to other areas of the city, such as Bird Port and the area near Liberty Steel.

Mr Murphy said: "This year we'll have removed more waste from the River Usk than we have in the two previous years combined.

"A huge thanks to all the people who've helped us do this.

"We hope we can re-start our group events before too long."