Generous volunteers from across St Ives donated their time and effort to keep the town tidy during the annual New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Supported and organised by St Ives Business Improvement District (BID) and Plastic Free St Ives, a team of litter pickers took to the streets on New Year’s Eve in an effort to reduce the amount of litter left behind after the celebrations.

Helen Tripconey, St Ives BID Manager, said: “We were delighted to see so many people come to the town to celebrate New Year’s Eve, and we have received lots of wonderful comments about the fireworks from locals and visitors to our town.

"We are so grateful for our local volunteers who gave their time for free to help pick up litter during the celebrations, making a real difference to the amount of rubbish that will have made its way to the sea.

“We plan to explore a number of options in the weeks and months ahead for next year’s event, which will include investigating alternatives to single-use plastic, with the aim to reduce the amount that has been used in the past.”

The group of five cleared litter from the harbour during the festivities, concentrating their efforts on areas where rubbish, particularly plastic, could potentially fall into the water, or be washed away by the tide.

Thousands of people attended the New Year’s Eve celebrations in St Ives, ringing in the new year with the now-annual spectacular fireworks display that lit up the skies over the harbour.

The firework display, paid for thanks to generous donations from the town’s businesses through St Ives BID alongside some support from St Ives Town Council, were once again delivered by Cornish company Celebration Pyrotechnics who supply completely plastic-free fireworks.

Danny Strickland, Owner of Cohort Hostel and community leader for the Plastic-Free St Ives campaign, was a volunteer litter picker on the night.

He said: “A lot of the litter left from New Year’s Eve has ended up on the beach and in the water in the past and, to help minimise that amount of rubbish, I agreed to take part. It is so important to me to try and keep as much waste as possible away from St Ives.

“We litter picked from 12:30am until 2am, and I have to say, it was a lot of fun. We made a real dent in the amount of rubbish left behind, and I would really encourage more people to get involved next year. Just a few volunteers can help make such a difference.”

For more information visit www.stivesbid.co.uk