Consistent reports of littering in one area of Abergavenny has resulted in a visit from the Member of Parliament, who rolled up her sleeves and addressed the issue herself.

Concerns were first raised during a recent door-knocking session with Cllr Tudor Thomas, where residents repeatedly highlighted issues with litter building up in certain parts of the estate. Within days of the issue being reported, the volunteer group Keep Abergavenny Tidy stepped in, collecting eight bags of rubbish from the area.

Joining them was Labour MP for Monmouthshire, Catherine Fookes. Her office raised the matter with Codi (formerly known as Pobl), who manages the estate.

An initial walkabout was carried out to identify the main problem areas and discuss longer-term solutions to improve the estate and ensure it stays clean in the future.

As a result of this, bin storage areas were built to prevent rubbish and recycling from blowing around.

Following this, Catherine joined Codi, Labour councillors, residents, Keep Abergavenny Tidy and Monmouthshire County Council for a larger community litter pick.

Catherine Fookes MP said:“I do a lot of door-knocking to speak to residents and understand the key issues in their area. When residents raise something with me, I take it seriously and want to take genuine action as quickly as possible.

The estate is lovely, but like anywhere, some litter hot spots had started to appear and needed community action to address them.I’m really grateful to Keep Abergavenny Tidy for acting so quickly, and to Codi and Monmouthshire County Council for working with us on longer-term solutions.It was fantastic to see everyone come together for the litter pick.

It’s a great example of what can be achieved when people work together to improve their area.”

During the litter pick, volunteers removed three discarded shopping trolleys, several tyres and at least twelve bags of rubbish from the area.Catherine Fookes said she hopes to organise more community litter picking events in the future.