MEMBERS of a town group have been out and about sprucing up Cockermouth.

The Rotary Club of Cockermouth wanted to do their bit to clean up the town.

And so, armed with buckets, brushes and cloths, they headed through town transforming dirty street and road signs.

Member Val Ayre said: "Some of the signs were absolutely filthy.

"We wanted to give the town a spruce up to further enhance the welcome we like to give to both our residents and anybody visiting, particularly during these strange times we all find ourselves living in now.

"The signs look lovely now, it's great to help make the town nice and tidy and people clearly appreciate it.

"On the day we had lots of people honking horns and giving us thumbs up."

A team of 16 split into groups and worked their way from four locations (Gote Road, Cockermouth School, Lorton Road and Brigham Road) to the town centre.

Val said: "The street sign cleaning was done in conjunction with Cumbria County Council Highways, we were signed up as volunteers under the Working Together process which covers a number of highways activities that town councils and voluntary / community groups can get involved with."

The cleaning up will continue next month when the Rotarians support the national Keep Britain Tidy campaign which runs from September 11 to 27.

"We're planning to do a litter pick, along the river and in other areas," said Val.

"We're hoping to do it with lots of other partners and hope other community teams and groups will get involved."

The club has has delivered hundreds of Boredom Buster Boxes to socially isolated residents throughout lockdown.

Each box contains a range of goods, including books, magazines, puzzles, jigsaws and sweets, and a personal note.

Recipients have been referred by club members, Age UK West Cumbria and Castlegate and Derwent Surgery.

The Rotary club is now in the process of creating a Cockermouth Covid-19 memory book which will be launched soon.

"We have lots of photos illustrating what happened and what life was like during the height of it - the food parcels being delivered and all the other things going on in the town," said Val.

Anyone who like to get involved with the litter pick should contact Val on valerie.ayre@cumbria.gov.uk.