FOOTBALL club volunteers have teamed up with councillors once again to clean up an Atherton park plagued with litter.

Adults and children involved with Pennington FC worked with Atherleigh representatives Cllr John Harding and Mark Aldred to collect 19 bags of rubbish in an hour at Jubilee Park.

The litter pick, which was first carried out in October, is part of Wigan Council's The Deal scheme in which funding has been provided to support the efforts at the Leigh Road park.

Cllr Harding said: “We have worked closely with the club chairman Kevin Doyley and other committee members over the past few months and it has been fantastic to see the commitment and effort they put in to improving the local area.

"The club will be looking to continue their good work by holding regular litter picks throughout the year and we are very grateful for their help.

"Pennington FC’s volunteers did a first class job and it was great to work with them.

"Ideally it would be pleasing to see no litter dropped in the first place.

"It is a shame that a small minority of our community, including dog walkers, seem unable to walk a few extra paces to deposit their rubbish in the bins."

Atherleigh councillors have recently provided funding to install four bins at the park.