A litterbug was shamed into clearing up the mess he and his friends left in a village park.

PCSO Tony Quilter was on patrol in Darenth with colleague PCSO Linda Down when they noticed a car parked in Wood Lane car park.

Inside were four young people eating and drinking.

A short time later, the PCSOs returned to the area to find the car had gone and a significant amount of litter, including drink cans, sweet wrappers and crisp bags were strewn in its place.

PCSO Quilter said: “I had taken the registration number of the car earlier so was able to trace the owner.

“I telephoned and asked him if he would like to return to the car park and pick up the litter, or whether he would prefer me to issue him with a £50 fixed penalty fine.

“Common sense prevailed and he returned straight away and picked up all of the litter he and his friends had left behind.”

The incident happened at around 2pm on Saturday March 15. No further action was taken against the teenager, who was from the Darenth area.