LITTER pickers were thanked after clearing up at a popular food festival.

The litter pickers of The Vale of Evesham Food & Drink Festival have been thanked after visitors left vast amounts of rubbish.

The event organisers drafted Continental Landscapes and HTE Solutions to clean up after each festival day.

Evesham Journal: DISCARDED: Rubbish left at the Evesham Food and Drink Festival.DISCARDED: Rubbish left at the Evesham Food and Drink Festival. (Image: Anti-Litter Evesham)

The Vale of Evesham Food & Drink Festival aimed to celebrate local producers at Evesham Crown Meadows. 

However, on Saturday (June 3), a large amount of rubbish was photographed, all of which was discarded.

Mark Cookson, event organiser, said there was an issue with litter on Saturday, but litter pickers came early on Sunday to ensure the area was clean before the festival commenced again.

He added: "I had a team of litter pickers that came in, and people are generally respectful and have after a few beverages may forget, but we anticipated this and dealt with it.

Evesham Journal: Rubbish scattered across the floor of the festival.Rubbish scattered across the floor of the festival. (Image: Anti-Litter Evesham)

"It is not an issue, and the field was cleared after the festival.

"It was an issue on Saturday, and the pickers came early Sunday morning to clear it up."

A spokesperson for Anti-Litter Evesham said: "Thank you to the gentlemen from Continental Landscapes and HTE Solutions who were litter-picking a river of rubbish this morning on Crown Meadow."

Mr Cookson added all the rubbish from across the festival was removed, and not a piece was left after the festival packed up on Sunday evening.

The event, which took place from Friday to Sunday, has been described as "absolutely packed" by visitors and event organisers.

In the future, he hopes to make the festival "even more local", with Evesham people having more stands selling fresh produce from the town.

The food and drink festival was initially supposed to take place during the first May bank holiday but was cancelled due to poor weather.

Wychavon District Council had announced organisers were forced to cancel the festival due to the high amount of wet weather, making it unsafe to hold.