A garbage collection project has hit a major milestone – filling 2,000 black sacks of litter less than a year since it started.

The Lordswood and Walderslade Community Litter Group collect discarded rubbish from the area's woodlands and streets.

Volunteer Marion Rogers said: "You would be amazed by what people have dumped.

"It has got really bad but what we have found since we started are some places we go back and it is like we never touched it in the first place.

"It does not matter how many times we clean that area it looks shocking again.

"However much we want to celebrate this new milestone, we know that the next 1,000 bags worth of rubbish is on its way."

According to Marion, 75% of all litter is made up of aluminium cans, glass or plastic bottles and these are some of their most common finds but they also come across much larger items such as industrial fridges, old furniture and tyres.

She even said they had found a Marathon wrapper which has been out of existence since 1990 when it changed to Snickers.

The 67-year-old, of Prince Charles Avenue, Chatham, added: "We have residents of all ages who will let drink containers fall from their hands or throw them out of car windows. We find picnic waste and wrappers dumped within feet of a bin in our parks.

"Many householders park their cars ignoring the rubbish blown around their drives and the pavement left from weekly waste collections."

Marion estimated that 2,000 black sacks would reach one kilometre high which would be roughly three times the height of the Shard which stands at 310m and as high as the planned Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia.

She continued: "Our volunteers are doing their best to keep our area nice for us all to enjoy and we are grateful for all the appreciative comments we get from passers by but can we not all do just a little more to help.

"Please, just pick up what you safely can from outside your home. When out and about, either put your rubbish in a bin or take your rubbish home."