0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains some strong language
0:00:04 > 0:00:06What's your personal litter bugbear?
0:00:06 > 0:00:09Is it a big steaming heap of provocation?
0:00:09 > 0:00:12Look at the size of that bugger.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14That could be a two-bag job.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16That's huge. That's a big dog.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Maybe it's couldn't-care-less, throw-away fag ends
0:00:19 > 0:00:21which get you going.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23When you smoke a cigarette, where are you putting your butts?
0:00:23 > 0:00:25I flick 'em wherever the fuck I want.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28You flick 'em wherever the fuck you want? OK.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33Or perhaps you're driven by a more specialist passion
0:00:33 > 0:00:36to cleanse the streets of stray drinks cans?
0:00:36 > 0:00:39I found seven cans just by walking down one road.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42And yet, there's a street sweeper there.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45That there highlights the amount of litter on the street.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Goes to show, doesn't it?
0:00:47 > 0:00:5130 million tonnes of mess is dumped on Britain's streets every year.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55It's provoked a small army of litter freelancers,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58refuseniks against a tide of refuse.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02For the effort I'm putting in here which is hardly anything,
0:01:02 > 0:01:06how different will it look when I'm finished? Tell me this is not fun.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11All over Britain, from morning till night, they're watching you.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14That dog's going to poo now.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19They're on patrol and, if you're a dumper, they've got it in for you.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21That's horrific. It's just like a toilet.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Your street is their beat.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29Meet the litter vigilantes on the front line against filth.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41There's a certain view of fairy-tale England
0:01:41 > 0:01:43we all hold dear in our hearts.
0:01:43 > 0:01:48Nestling beneath the rolling hills, green and very, very clean.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53St George's day in Church Stretton.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58A litter Lancelot is girding his loins for his twice-weekly
0:01:58 > 0:02:01joust against his personal dragon.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06John is a retired soldier and teacher.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08Now he picks litter unpaid
0:02:08 > 0:02:11and if you dump, he will teach you a lesson.
0:02:11 > 0:02:16I picked up the rubbish, ran up to the couple and said, "This is yours.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21"We don't want it. Please bin it or take it home."
0:02:21 > 0:02:25And partly I suppose because they were young and a couple,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29and maybe he didn't want to be shown up, he got quite stroppy
0:02:29 > 0:02:32and I just stood up and said,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35"Look, you either take it home now
0:02:35 > 0:02:38"or dispose of it or I'm afraid I'm going to make a citizen's arrest"
0:02:38 > 0:02:40which I hadn't a clue how to do.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47And, luckily, the bluff worked and he disposed of the rubbish.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51That's quite aggressive - "I'm going to make a citizen's arrest."
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Well, I know, and it was probably very foolish,
0:02:53 > 0:02:59but unless people are brought up fairly shortly and sharply,
0:02:59 > 0:03:01I think they'll go on throwing their litter around
0:03:01 > 0:03:04and not thinking twice about the consequences.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09After the pick comes the reward,
0:03:09 > 0:03:14breathing in the satisfaction of preserving that which he holds dear.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16The green and pleasant land,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19safe beneath the jaws of the eager picker.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22It's just such a beautiful vista.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25We feel ownership somehow, stupidly, I know,
0:03:25 > 0:03:30but I think that's what drives me to look on our town
0:03:30 > 0:03:32as something really very special.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35It's easy to understand John's motivation.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38An old-fashioned sense of civic duty
0:03:38 > 0:03:41combined with a passion for beautiful surroundings.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47But you don't need to live in an area of outstanding natural beauty
0:03:47 > 0:03:49to feel the same sense of ownership.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54A busy road past an industrial estate will do.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59Hurtling traffic, strolling dogs, their inevitable deposits.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04Every morning a genial figure sallies forth from his warehouse
0:04:04 > 0:04:06to mount an inspection.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10If I go up there on a regular basis, it sounds sad,
0:04:10 > 0:04:15but I take photos just for photographic proof it's happening.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19As you can see, this is literally about a foot, if that, from the path.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23It's all fresh poo, as well. It's done daily all the time.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25The lamppost is right next to the path as well.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29The path ends just here and it's literally gone there.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32If I saw a fella going along taking pictures of dog poos,
0:04:32 > 0:04:34I'd think that was a bit odd, you know.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37If I don't do it, nobody would do it.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40Loads of things in life, if one person doesn't get off their backside
0:04:40 > 0:04:43and do something, then nobody will do it.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45This is the mantra of the litter vigilante.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51It's driven Rik on a two-year mission
0:04:51 > 0:04:54to force Cornwall Council to prosecute.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Sometimes I sit there
0:04:56 > 0:04:58and watch it from the end of the industrial estate.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Although I've been there when it's been dark at night
0:05:01 > 0:05:03and I've been there six o'clock in the morning.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05I don't know, they just don't seem to come
0:05:05 > 0:05:08when I'm sitting there watching them.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13Rik and his neighbours on the estate have a heavyweight solution.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17The estate has security cameras which might also deter
0:05:17 > 0:05:18would-be foulers.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22This camera here is going to get this road here
0:05:22 > 0:05:25and it sort of gives us the hedge as well.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Also, luckily, it gives a bit of road
0:05:28 > 0:05:30and the verge on the other side as well.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32If it does pick anyone up, it will pick them up
0:05:32 > 0:05:36in about a 60-yard stretch of the grass verge,
0:05:36 > 0:05:41so hopefully, that will be enough evidence to actually prosecute.
0:05:41 > 0:05:46- It's a trap.- It's not a trap.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48We've got signs up saying,
0:05:48 > 0:05:53or we're putting signs up saying, there's a CCTV monitor in the area
0:05:53 > 0:05:57which I've been told we've got to do, so it's not a trap.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00It's people breaking the law. They're breaking the law.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02They've got to be stopped.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06So, if your dog starts walking in a waddly squatty sort of way
0:06:06 > 0:06:09on this particular stretch of road, you beware.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12You're risking a £1,000 fine.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16You might get the impression it's a bit of a man's world being
0:06:16 > 0:06:19a litter vigilante, but meet Manuela.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24She used to bake pies. Her Bakewell tarts were a speciality.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28Retired, she roams the streets of her hometown, picker in hand,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31dispensing high fives and hugs.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36High heels and sharp words.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40What's my job? Putting a smile on your face. That's what my job is.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Your job is to put a smile on mine and you know how you can do that?
0:06:43 > 0:06:44What's that?
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Make certain you put that bloody rubbish in that bloody bin.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50When I first started doing this four years ago,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52I was thought of as a little old lady, a little weirdo,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55walking round trying to change the world, right?
0:06:55 > 0:06:58I may have been a little old lady four years ago trying to
0:06:58 > 0:07:02change the world and people think I'm a bit nutty. I'm not nutty.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06I will make people aware that if you've bought something
0:07:06 > 0:07:10and you've got the money to buy a luxury, just dispose of it properly.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13I'm just not going to go away.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Manuela's approach doesn't always fall on fertile ground.
0:07:18 > 0:07:19Answer me truthfully.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23When you smoke a cigarette, where are you putting your butts?
0:07:23 > 0:07:25I flick 'em wherever the fuck I want.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28You flick 'em wherever the fuck you want? OK.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34It's my chance to talk to people and, at the end of the day,
0:07:34 > 0:07:38I love talking to kids and if they turn round and say,
0:07:38 > 0:07:42"I don't care" then it's my job to try and make them care.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45When at first she doesn't succeed...
0:07:45 > 0:07:48- Frazier.- Yeah?- I want to hear you say you will never ever drop a cig...
0:07:48 > 0:07:52- I will never ever. Man, this is... - Come on, say it, say it.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55- I'll never do it again, all right? - All right, there you go.- Cool.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59Virtually every day for the last four years, Manuela has been
0:07:59 > 0:08:02stamping down on litter,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04unpaid and unasked.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Her commitment remains total.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08When you spit on there like that,
0:08:08 > 0:08:11what ends up happening is somebody comes along, slips on it.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Today's not too bad a problem.
0:08:13 > 0:08:14HE LAUGHS
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Hey, hey, whoa, Steve, whoa. Listen to me. Listen to me.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22- Today's not too bad a problem because we've got rain, right?- OK.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26- But just imagine you've got children sitting in a pram.- OK.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Children sitting in a pushchair. They see you going...
0:08:28 > 0:08:30SHE PRETENDS TO SPIT
0:08:30 > 0:08:34What kind of an example is that? It's not a good example, is it, mate?
0:08:34 > 0:08:36- I don't care really. - You don't care?- No.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39- You think that's OK just to do that?- Yeah.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41- I don't.- OK.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43'I'm absolutely certain'
0:08:43 > 0:08:47there are people in Andover that think I'm a big pain in the arse.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50I'm absolutely certain but I can't help that.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55Your litter vigilante does tend to be the sort who gets stuck in
0:08:55 > 0:08:57and gets their hands dirty.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Welcome to the local park of Mike Wallace.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05- What's that?- Dog poo here.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Mike is a dog mess specialist. Forensic, discerning in his mission.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14So what size of dog is that, would you say?
0:09:14 > 0:09:19I would say it's a medium-to-biggish dog. Probably quite a decent size.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22Terrier-size, something like that. Can you feel the weight of that?
0:09:22 > 0:09:26You don't need many of those in a carrier bag
0:09:26 > 0:09:31and you've soon got a fair amount of weight involved.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35Over the week, I came three times during the course of the week,
0:09:35 > 0:09:36used 16 carrier bags.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38Now, I'm not saying they were full carrier bags,
0:09:38 > 0:09:43but they were 16 carrier bags of dog poo I took off these two play areas.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46I thought you meant 16 little dog poo bags. You mean carrier bags?
0:09:46 > 0:09:51- Carrier bags.- That's disgusting.- It's totally disgusting. It was lovely.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55I smelt it for about a fortnight after that. It was revolting.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Mike likes a team of handy helpers on his daily crusade.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02God, strewth! I've done a tonne here.
0:10:04 > 0:10:05Done a tonne.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08His wife Margaret plays bag woman.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Elaine, his neighbour, and Mike's little dog Henry lend moral support.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16It stinks, doesn't it? I know. I know.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19There's still some there. I can't get it all off the grass.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22There's another one, big, here.
0:10:22 > 0:10:23Big dogs.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26- You really do get stuck in there, don't you?- You have to.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31When it's in that sort of state, you have to.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33It's absolutely...
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Oh, god!
0:10:35 > 0:10:38But the trouble is, you can't wear gloves properly with it
0:10:38 > 0:10:43and it's one of the things that you have to take on board.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45They're not alone in their disgust.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Dog mess provokes more letters to councils and MPs
0:10:48 > 0:10:51than any other subject.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Back at the ranch, Mike has some serious sorting to do.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59- Phew, that whiffs!- Quite a pungent aroma, that, isn't it?
0:10:59 > 0:11:02It certainly gets the old sinuses cleared, yes.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07This is the result, look. People's total irresponsibility.
0:11:07 > 0:11:13No thought for others. No respect for the environment.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15And still it comes.
0:11:18 > 0:11:19- How many bags are there? - I don't know.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22I'm going to get them all out and count them in a minute, sir.
0:11:22 > 0:11:28One park, one hour, a one-man crusade.
0:11:28 > 0:11:3027, not quite as many as I thought
0:11:30 > 0:11:33but quite sufficient for an afternoon's work.
0:11:34 > 0:11:3727 bags of poo.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Another rewarding day in Borrowash.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Dog fouling is supposed to be a criminal offence
0:11:43 > 0:11:47but 27 bags of poo says the locals don't seem to worry too much.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54You might think it's up to councils to clear up mess, but there
0:11:54 > 0:11:59are places like Manchester's Curry Mile where they struggle to keep up.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02They need a helping hand, or two.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07The council cannot pick up all that litter.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10As you pick it up, so it comes back again
0:12:10 > 0:12:14and people come to Rusholme, have food, and literally put it in a bag,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17close the bag and throw the bag outside.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21You just can't believe anybody could do that where people live.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24My husband has walked past somebody who's thrown litter out
0:12:24 > 0:12:27and he's just thrown it back in the car, which I think, you know...
0:12:27 > 0:12:30He got a mouthful back, but why not?
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Fast food debris has become the blight of inner city areas
0:12:36 > 0:12:38like Rusholme.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42So, a few times a year the residents cry Tally Ho
0:12:42 > 0:12:44and hunt down the castaway curries.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48We get takeaway containers, cans, bottles,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51sometimes food if they've had too much.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54You name it, we've come across it.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56While the youngsters continue on the main drag,
0:12:56 > 0:13:01the two ladies get up to some really filthy stuff in a back alley.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05- Is it a bonding sort of thing, this, then?- Yes.- Oh, yes, it is.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07I think we all do things together
0:13:07 > 0:13:12and you asked me earlier whether we'd do this on our own and maybe,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15- but I think we do it far more if we do it together.- Yeah.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18And we have regular litter picks and we all get the kids out and do it.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23Yeah. In fact, I wouldn't have met you on the park range side
0:13:23 > 0:13:27- if I hadn't joined the litter picking.- No, exactly. It's true.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29Is this the birth of a beautiful friendship?
0:13:29 > 0:13:32Well, we've got a book club now.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Who would have thought it?
0:13:36 > 0:13:40From filth and squalor sprang forth the glory which is
0:13:40 > 0:13:42the Rusholme Ladies Reading Club.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Huzzah!
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Yorkshire Dales, big skies, bracing fresh air.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Everything a happy couple could want.
0:13:55 > 0:13:56Meet Jill, Matthew
0:13:56 > 0:14:00and their slightly dolorous-looking companion, April.
0:14:00 > 0:14:01All jolly nice, you might think.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04But on the unfortunately-titled Shutt Lane
0:14:04 > 0:14:07there is a certain something in the air.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13The signs warn of mega fines but no one has ever been prosecuted,
0:14:13 > 0:14:15even though it's hard by the primary school.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21My sister-in-law has got a friend who actually came to the primary school
0:14:21 > 0:14:23with their little girl in the pushchair,
0:14:23 > 0:14:27and when she turned round to look at her, she just had hands full
0:14:27 > 0:14:32of dog fouling, which is really disgusting. Absolutely diabolical.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36And there's often piles of poo just from here all the way down.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38There's some here.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41There's a massive pile here.
0:14:41 > 0:14:42It's here.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Again, big piles of it. And there.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50Another pile here that looks as if it's been trodden in.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55- And we've gone, what, halfway down? - Halfway through the path.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Must have been 20, 25 piles of poo.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Jill has hit upon an unusual plan.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04She's launching one of Britain's most unorthodox
0:15:04 > 0:15:06dog poo vigilante campaigns.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13So my plan is to return to Shutt Lane
0:15:13 > 0:15:16and I'm going to have the whole lane covered in pink flags just
0:15:16 > 0:15:21so that people really get a grasp of the volume and I just think a bit
0:15:21 > 0:15:27more visually, it will prove a point having a flag in each pile of poo.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31It's a more pink and fluffy type of vigilantism, aimed more at pricking
0:15:31 > 0:15:36the conscience than confronting, but it is, nonetheless, determined.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38There's no stopping her. Once she gets going, that's it.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42I can't even stop her. Nothing will stop her at all.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45She's very passionate about things, is Jill, very passionate,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48and once she puts her mind to it, that's it, really.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Pink flags, makeshift poo bag dispensers
0:15:55 > 0:15:58and a man with a four pound lump hammer.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04Yes, perfect. Let the flags commence.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08Every now and then, we'll put up another sign
0:16:08 > 0:16:11and halfway down we'll put another one of those up.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14Are you putting all these three down here? There's one.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Gross!
0:16:25 > 0:16:29Some of this looks like it's fresh from an hour or two ago.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31So frustrating.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36I think it's actually, is visually really proving a point
0:16:36 > 0:16:42to not even be just over halfway down, for me...
0:16:42 > 0:16:45We've run out of flags.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47We've completely run out of flags.
0:16:47 > 0:16:4953.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52That just proves how bad it is. We're not even halfway down.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56- Well, we are just over half way. - That's disgusting.- It's really bad.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58It's just really upsettingly shocking.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00Do you know you'll have to do another 50-odd flags.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03- Yeah, probably.- Seriously.- Probably.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05I shall be laminating.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08It's disgusting.
0:17:08 > 0:17:09Back to the laminator
0:17:09 > 0:17:13and back tomorrow to deck out the other half of Shutt Lane.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20Other vigilantes seek out more esoteric targets.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Adrian is exclusively a tin man.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28A good job since three-quarters of all litter involves drinks cans.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30After doing it for about two years now,
0:17:30 > 0:17:35you kind of get used to the look of the cans' shines.
0:17:35 > 0:17:36It's just instinct.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39I know where to look, I know where they're going to be.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43It's quite easy for me to find them. It's just the old eye.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49Adrian started his can collecting when his wages dipped.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52He gets half a penny per tin in supermarket vouchers.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Since then, he's lost his job
0:17:54 > 0:17:58but his collecting gives structure to his days and purpose to his life.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Adrian collected his first 18,000 cans on foot.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10But, after a year of pounding the Leicester streets,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13there came a seismic technological advance.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17From two legs to two wheels.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Adrian's collection rate doubled, making him a very happy bear indeed.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26I can probably not quite hold as many as what the wheelie bin does
0:18:26 > 0:18:32but I can fill it up quicker, come back, offload them, and then refill
0:18:32 > 0:18:34it and go out again, so I could do two or three journeys on this.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38- So what total are you at now? - I'm now at 50,000.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44Yeah, 50,000 I'm up to now. I've now done exactly 50,000 cans.
0:18:46 > 0:18:5050,000 is a landmark in anyone's terms
0:18:50 > 0:18:54so today is a big day in Adrian's bedsit.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56I've got a meeting with the mayor to see the mayor.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58It's nice to actually get.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03He's certainly the highest person that's recognised my work so far.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Normally I'm wearing some sort of hi-vis jacket of varying different
0:19:06 > 0:19:12colours but today I thought I'd put on the full gear
0:19:12 > 0:19:17and look the part if I'm going to meet someone that's pretty high up.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22People have pushed me along when I felt
0:19:22 > 0:19:25that I was flagging a little big in the 40,000s.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28The total never seemed to be moving very fast
0:19:28 > 0:19:33but then I managed to push myself a bit harder and was out in the
0:19:33 > 0:19:36evenings sometimes till gone midnight collecting cans off the streets.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42It's been hard work but I'm really proud of the 50,000.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48- Hi there.- Hello, Peter.- Adrian, how brilliant to see you, it really is,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50with red can in hand as well.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52I have to say you've done a wonderful service to
0:19:52 > 0:19:53the environment.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55- A brilliant service to the city as well.- I try.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58- I got off my own back and just did something.- Yes.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02Where do find is worst, or best, for cans if you're looking for them?
0:20:02 > 0:20:05I find them all over the place. You name the place and I'll find it.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09I just travel as far and abreast as what I can do until I'm full
0:20:09 > 0:20:11and I have to empty them all again.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13- Let's go and have a cup of tea. - Thank you.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17Can-man triumphant.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20Vigilante as civic hero.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Quiet man walking tall.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34In Cornwall, a short distance from the smelly verge,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37Rik is watching telly, specifically,
0:20:37 > 0:20:41the bit of the estate's CCTV which spills over the road.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45It's the object of his closest scrutiny.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47I can see a chap walking up here.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50Two dogs.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54This person, I know who it is.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58I recognise the dogs,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01so I'll keep an eye out at ten past seven in the morning,
0:21:01 > 0:21:06without him knowing I'm watching him and see if he picks up.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10The dedication of the true vigilante.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Methodical, precise, determined.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16Acquiring targets for an early morning stakeout.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22A few days later, half hidden behind a wall...
0:21:22 > 0:21:26As people walk out with the dogs, they're walking straight on to
0:21:26 > 0:21:28grass and that's where they're fouling the path.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31If I'm going to catch them, this is where I'm going to catch them.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36The council said if I get evidence that people's dogs are fouling,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38they will prosecute.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41And if I video somebody and I present that to the council,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44hopefully they'll stick to their guns and they will prosecute.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46Here's one now.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54That dog's going to poo now.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03It is a puzzling display.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06There's a dog dump.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10There's an owner stooping down.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16But where, oh, where, does the dog poo go?
0:22:25 > 0:22:28She picked the poo up but I'm not sure what she did with the poo.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35It is an event worthy of further investigation.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38Ha!
0:22:38 > 0:22:42And, as you can see, she didn't pick her poo up.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45I didn't think she had a bag.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47She basically must have seen us
0:22:47 > 0:22:50and she bent down and made out she was picking something up
0:22:50 > 0:22:55and she had a hanky or tissue or something in her pocket
0:22:55 > 0:23:00and she's, er, well, she just left it there.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06It is, though, a poo served up with a dollop of doubt.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08She's not bang to rights.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10One frustrated vigilante.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19On Shutt Lane, Jill and Matthew are back with a wag in their tails
0:23:19 > 0:23:22and 22 new pink flags.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25- That's a fresh one today.- 56.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30This is horrific. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use these.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Four-fifths of her way down the lane,
0:23:32 > 0:23:36Jill is down to her last flag with no shortage of places to plonk it.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39It's just like a toilet.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Seriously, it's a toilet for dogs.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46We're not trying to harm anyone. We're just trying to educate people.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49Just pick it up and put it in the bin. It's not hard.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51Jill's personally affronted
0:23:51 > 0:23:53that other dog owners don't pick up like she does
0:23:53 > 0:23:56and April looks none too impressed either.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01One lane, 75 poos, no more flags.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05It's just disgusting. It really is.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10It's clear Jill will need to gather support and momentum,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14so welcome to the Cross Hills and Glusburn Dog Fouling Action Group.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Your chance to spend 90 minutes on a wet Monday night
0:24:17 > 0:24:20talking about dog mess.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24We did an exercise to see if we could flag the situation
0:24:24 > 0:24:29and there were 75 flags in a 200-metre stretch of Shutt Lane.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33- You can kind of tell that it's the same dog.- Do you think?
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Yes, it's the same size, colour.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38It's the same dog.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43So I reckon that there are fewer dog owners doing it
0:24:43 > 0:24:45but they're doing it twice a day.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48My dog goes twice a day.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50People love talking dog poo.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54One of the great unifying points of Middle England.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58The same poo repetitively appears in certain areas,
0:24:58 > 0:25:00for example, the back of Station Road.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04It's a particularly lurid light brown.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06THEY LAUGH
0:25:09 > 0:25:11And it's always consistently the same
0:25:11 > 0:25:14but there's a clue to identifying the perpetrator.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Would you class it as antisocial behaviour?
0:25:17 > 0:25:21It's a quality of life issue more than anything, isn't it?
0:25:21 > 0:25:24You want to let your kids play out in the playing fields,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27things like that, and not come back with dog muck all over them.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30- It's something the police have a lot of complaints about.- Is it?
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Every parish council we go to we have speeders and dog muck
0:25:34 > 0:25:38and the dog muck is not something we can do something easily about.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43I think a good exercise, having put some poo bag dispensers back up there
0:25:43 > 0:25:47is to maybe re-run that flagging exercise in six months' time
0:25:47 > 0:25:49to see if there's been an improvement.
0:25:49 > 0:25:50We can only try our best.
0:25:54 > 0:25:59In far west Cornwall, in a scrub of land by a car park,
0:25:59 > 0:26:04a litter super-picker is about to really indulge himself.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06You've got two bags.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08Recyclables in one and then the rubbish
0:26:08 > 0:26:11and stuff like that in the other one.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16It's a real art form. People think rubbish is straightforward. It's not.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20For the effort I'm putting in here, which is hardly anything, right,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24how different it's going to look when I'm finished.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27The patch of land is called The Leets.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30It's not what you'd call a beauty spot.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34But it's a favourite haunt of Owen Brains, whenever he's got time out.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39Unleashed, he's a one man litter tornado.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Stig of the Dump in his element.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44- Are you happy doing this?- Happy?
0:26:47 > 0:26:50I'm as happy as me pig in shit, I suppose, I am.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54The simple reason is it's the right thing, you know.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56I can see you up there getting stuck in to a load of rubbish.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01- I can see flies buzzing round you. I can smell the stuff from here.- Yeah.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03That's not good.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05HE LAUGHS
0:27:07 > 0:27:10Do you know, when I was a junkie, right,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14I lived on Snickers and chocolate milk for two year.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16That's no good either, and, do you know what, right,
0:27:16 > 0:27:20I like this person far better than I ever liked that person.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23It's fair to say Owen has lived a bit of a life.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Litter has, in an odd way, been his redemption.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33I like to do stuff that possibly nobody else wants to do.
0:27:33 > 0:27:34But you see this as hard.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38I see this as half an hour.
0:27:38 > 0:27:44- Tell me this is not fun. Course it is.- That's no fun.- It is fun.
0:27:44 > 0:27:45It isn't. It's getting really,
0:27:45 > 0:27:48really filthy with a load of other people's rubbish. That's not fun.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51HE LAUGHS
0:27:51 > 0:27:56The point being, right, if I didn't do it, who else would?
0:27:58 > 0:28:01This is where Owen comes back to.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06A bucolic idyll for his wife, George, and their three children.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11He's ever so slightly obsessive compulsive, he is.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13He can't help it. He enjoys it.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16If you've got that kind of energy
0:28:16 > 0:28:20and that kind of commitment it's better to be doing something that's
0:28:20 > 0:28:25worthwhile than to be out there doing something that's not so nice.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29In the summer, Owen makes a living collecting rubbish from festivals.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34Through the long winter months he cheers himself up
0:28:34 > 0:28:37by picking up litter, unpaid.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39Never mind going the extra mile.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42He'll do the extra 25 miles
0:28:42 > 0:28:45and then lend you a tenner at the end of it, you know.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48He's a very good man.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54Do you know, until I did this, I didn't have a life. I was nobody.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57And now I'm Owen.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00I come out of prison, right, and I've got...
0:29:01 > 0:29:06I've remarried, I've got three kids, do you know what I mean?
0:29:06 > 0:29:08And it's great.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11Owen's whole family are super-recyclers.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14Four-year-old James, already kitted out in hi-vis.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19You might think this kind of life has much to commend it
0:29:19 > 0:29:22in a Borrowers-Good Life sort of way but...
0:29:22 > 0:29:26We are so permanently skint, it's ridiculous.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28We take every day as it comes.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32I have MS, so I have good days and bad days.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35Other things become less important.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39It's less important to us as a family to have all this amazing
0:29:39 > 0:29:43stuff because we've got each other and, really, that's all you need.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47Which sounds fine for the summer but this is September
0:29:47 > 0:29:51and a cold, wet Cornish winter is yet to come.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55Andover, sleepy shire town,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58where things are about to get a little spicy.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00Manuela, on the prowl in raspberry red.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05Gentleman with blobby head drops a cigarette.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08Apparently cigarettes are just the thing for blobby heads.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12In Andover, with Manuela on patrol, this is most definitely a mistake.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16- Can I just stop you for one moment, darling?- Sorry?
0:30:16 > 0:30:18Can I just stop you for one moment?
0:30:18 > 0:30:21You've just been smoking a cigarette and you dropped it.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23- OK, I'll go and pick it up. - Thank you.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27Fair enough. There were quite a few already.
0:30:27 > 0:30:28It makes no difference, darling.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32I can't stop people that have done it already, but you did do yours.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34- I don't know which one.- This one.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38DISTANT SHOUTING
0:30:38 > 0:30:40Thank you.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44Excuse me, put it in the bin, please, darling. Thank you.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48- You do not work for the council. - He dropped a cigarette butt...
0:30:48 > 0:30:51- Do you work for the council, though? - Have you finished shouting at me?
0:30:51 > 0:30:53Did I speak to you? No.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55If I dropped something on the floor and you told me,
0:30:55 > 0:30:56I'd be rather rude to you, madam.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59I'm going to phone up the council on Monday and complain about this.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02- Please do, darling. - It's out of order.- Right.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05You tell them that I saw him throw it on the floor and asked him
0:31:05 > 0:31:06to pick it up.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09- That's all I did.- No authority. - You ring up the council then.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11Thank you.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17I can hear the two of you shaking your heads.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20I think you're doing a ridiculous job, myself.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22Tell me why, darling.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25- Because I think you're full of your own self importance.- Right.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29Who are you to tell people to pick stuff up? You're absolutely nobody.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32- I'm no different to you, no different to you.- No, absolutely.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34- I haven't got rank. - Please don't touch me.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37I haven't got any rank at all. I'm not a police lady.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41So why do you run along to people, grab them and say, "Pick that up?"
0:31:41 > 0:31:44- You've got no rights.- Because they dropped it.- You've got no rights.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47- But they dropped it.- You have got no rights.- And that makes it OK?
0:31:47 > 0:31:49If I want to empty this all over the place, I will do it.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52Do you think that is OK?
0:31:54 > 0:31:57That is not very nice to talk to me like that.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59'She's got no authority'
0:31:59 > 0:32:01to tell him to do that.
0:32:01 > 0:32:06I find it quite frustrating that she walks around with her litter picker,
0:32:06 > 0:32:08"Oh, I'm Manuela, look at me,"
0:32:08 > 0:32:11making a big song and dance about it.
0:32:11 > 0:32:13If you're going to do something, do it,
0:32:13 > 0:32:15but don't expect everyone to go,
0:32:15 > 0:32:19"Oh, Manuela, Manuela, you're doing all these great things."
0:32:19 > 0:32:23If you're going to do it, do it, but don't expect any praise or anything.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27I don't know why. It's not that...
0:32:27 > 0:32:29I think it's just that she likes the attention.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34If it is attention, it's at some cost.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38That's upset everyone.
0:32:40 > 0:32:46Right, I think I've done enough for one day. I'm going to finish now.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50I need a group hug, darling, cos I'm feeling quite, sort of,
0:32:50 > 0:32:52I'm feeling quite shocked, actually.
0:32:52 > 0:32:53You're doing the right thing.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56You're doing something good and they just don't see that.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58Thank you very much indeed. I'm going home.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06The way of the litter vigilante can be hard and stony.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09It hurts. It really, really hurts.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11It shakes me up.
0:33:11 > 0:33:16I hope that after four years, the people that approve of what I do and
0:33:16 > 0:33:21like what I do outnumber the people that think I'm just a crazy lady.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23That's all I can say.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29On a cold blue Cornish morning,
0:33:29 > 0:33:32at the early hour when dogs emerge,
0:33:32 > 0:33:34looking a little bit urgent.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41A familiar figure by the A390.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45Different outfit, same dog and...
0:33:45 > 0:33:47..oh, my goodness me!
0:33:51 > 0:33:57Now this is truly an ill-chosen spot for it's in the field of vision
0:33:57 > 0:34:01of the glassy eye of Rik, scourge of Cornish dog foulers.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06Quick, into the Batcave.
0:34:06 > 0:34:08Survey the morning's findings.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12There she is there.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18You can clearly see her dog stop there.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27You can see the dog kicking away there.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30And off she goes.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34Just walking back down the road.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38- It's smack in the middle of your patch, isn't it?- Yeah, certainly is.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41I couldn't have asked for a better picture of her if I tried.
0:34:41 > 0:34:46I'm happy with that result. We've got video evidence that her dog fouled.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50Twice now we've got her. Hopefully, we'll get her done for it.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55What more evidence do you want?
0:34:55 > 0:34:57A result, at last.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00Later that same day,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03Rik betakes himself to the county council offices.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07Vindicated, emboldened and bearing incriminating evidence.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09This is Charter Way.
0:35:09 > 0:35:14This is from the security camera of the business park.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17You'll see her walk along here
0:35:17 > 0:35:19and then she'll stop.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21The dog, you can see it crouched down now.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24Afterwards it'll start kicking its legs.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26- That's a good sign that they've actually fouled.- Yeah.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29- I've got dogs myself. - Yeah, I've got two as well.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32I'll take a copy and I'll take it with me or you can get it to me.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35- That's fine.- We'll have a look and see where we can go with that.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38In the first instance, I will visit the individual
0:35:38 > 0:35:42and I will discuss it with them and if they admit, fair enough, our
0:35:42 > 0:35:45policy is they get a fixed penalty notice in the first instance.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47What happens if they don't accept it?
0:35:47 > 0:35:49- We will take them to prosecute. - Right.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51That's where they'll probably say they're not guilty,
0:35:51 > 0:35:54and you may be called to give evidence in the witness box.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56A circle closed.
0:35:56 > 0:36:02A visit from the council, the threat of prosecution, one happy vigilante.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06- That's the end of the road for you. That's a result, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10The end result will be once I see a prosecution.
0:36:10 > 0:36:11This is what I'm out to do.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15Get one prosecution and hopefully that one will put a stop to it.
0:36:15 > 0:36:19Is that your career as a vigilante over then?
0:36:19 > 0:36:25- The early morning stake-outs? - I walk this...- The CCTV monitoring?
0:36:25 > 0:36:30I walk Charter Way every evening with my two dogs.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32A lot of people know me and I know a lot of people.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35I've got two boxers so people know I've got two boxers.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41I will still be looking around. They won't stop me looking.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43If I see dog poo then I'll know that people are doing it again
0:36:43 > 0:36:46and I'll be back out there with my camera again.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49I will record people and I'll contact the council
0:36:49 > 0:36:52and get even more people prosecuted until it gets stopped.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54It's got to be stopped and it's got to be stopped now.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59Vigilance rewarded.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02A tell-tale bounce in Rik's every step.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12Under the silvery moonlight of chilly North Yorkshire,
0:37:12 > 0:37:15a remarkable transformation is under way.
0:37:15 > 0:37:20On Shutt Lane, Glusburn's dogs still busy around in their doggy way,
0:37:20 > 0:37:24but lo - the ways of their owners are wondrous changed.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29There, glowing in the poo bag,
0:37:29 > 0:37:32the thermal signature of collected dog mess.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37Owners queuing up to retrieve their leavings.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42Poo bags dutifully disposed of in the dog bin.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49It's time for Jill to take stock.
0:37:49 > 0:37:54A dab hand at design, she's come up with a whole new range of poo flags.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57She's heading out to Shutt Lane with hope in her heart.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02Last time, she needed 75 flags.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05- Today?- Definitely half. I'll be pleased with half.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09If we only do, say, about 30 I'll be pleased but we'll see.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14Haven't found one yet. I'm quite pleased.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17There's one.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21One's quite good. Last time, just horrendous.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24It was all constant flag, flag, flag, flag, flag,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27so I'm quite pleased with that so far, fingers crossed.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31I'm starting to recognise some of these.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34Looks like it's the same offender.
0:38:45 > 0:38:4722.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52It's really pleasing that the community are on board with this now.
0:38:52 > 0:38:5522 from 75 is pretty tremendous.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57I'm really pleased with that.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00Tiny bit of grass verge left.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02Don't know if that's 23.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Yep, 23. That's fantastic. Really, really pleased with that.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16Absolutely tremendous. It's back to Shutt Lane rather than Shit Lane.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22Of such small victories is human progress made.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27Here is September's grim harvest.
0:39:27 > 0:39:3126 pink flags in one small and malodorous patch.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37Here's exactly the same view three months later. Just six flags.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40Take a bow, Jill, but do watch out where you're standing.
0:39:44 > 0:39:45Two degrees above freezing.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49Trees down to their bare bones.
0:39:49 > 0:39:50The Borrowers in winter.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54No money, no work,
0:39:54 > 0:39:57scrabbling through the hard miles of the good life.
0:39:59 > 0:40:00Go on, do as you're told.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03'It is a bit soul destroying, this spring scene.'
0:40:03 > 0:40:05Cos of George's MS, we get Disability Allowance,
0:40:05 > 0:40:08and I'm a carer so we get Carer's Allowance,
0:40:08 > 0:40:12so I can't really do anything and it's really frustrating.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14It's like Boys From The Blackstuff for me.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17I'm so desperate, do you know what I mean?
0:40:17 > 0:40:22The reality is, why won't anyone...
0:40:22 > 0:40:24give us a job. What do you do?
0:40:24 > 0:40:27I don't know what to do, you know what I mean?
0:40:27 > 0:40:29I don't know what to do.
0:40:30 > 0:40:34Whenever he needs to cheer himself up, Owen organises a litter-pick.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39He's drafting in a work party for The Leets.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43Things have piled up rather since his last visit.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47The words "community litter-pick"
0:40:47 > 0:40:51probably conjure of visions of red-trousered, Rotarian-type fellas.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54Owen's team are cut from rather a different cloth.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59Right, youse three, James, as well, have got the wheelbarrow.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02We've got some litter picking tools, right?
0:41:05 > 0:41:08Some things Owen's family can't do anything about
0:41:08 > 0:41:12but litter on The Leets is something they can change.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17Pickers of all ages and sizes...
0:41:19 > 0:41:21..each with their own motivation.
0:41:21 > 0:41:26That might be finding rabbits or it might be something more complex.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29I'm a carer, so this lets me let off steam.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32Some days I'm breaking up furniture
0:41:32 > 0:41:34or just going round helping people out.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36It's different to what I've ever done.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39Always worked up until a few years ago.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42My wife took ill, so this is a let-out.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44I get these odd phone calls in the middle of the night.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48"Can you meet me in this beauty spot or it will be when we finish?"
0:41:49 > 0:41:51And, yeah.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55It takes out any pent-up anger indoors.
0:41:55 > 0:41:56I can take it out on rubbish.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58HE LAUGHS
0:41:58 > 0:42:00What do you make of Owen then?
0:42:00 > 0:42:03- He's a loon.- He's a loon?
0:42:03 > 0:42:06A complete loon, but with a great heart.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10Two hours' work. 13 people helping out.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15It all adds up to quite a haul.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18What's the most disgusting thing in there?
0:42:18 > 0:42:21- Well, he's standing behind us at the moment(!)- I'm here.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23THEY LAUGH
0:42:25 > 0:42:28Yeah, nails.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30- The johnnies.- Yeah.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32Bag o' crap.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34- Shitty wet wipes.- Yeah.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38From one patch of land in one morning,
0:42:38 > 0:42:4337 kilos of cans, bottles and cardboard, 24 kilos of glass,
0:42:43 > 0:42:4740 kilos of steel, five kilos of electrical stuff,
0:42:47 > 0:42:51167 kilos of landfill junk.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56The Leets is once again a sylvan glade.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59A fit place to walk your dog, take some air.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06How often a year do you do this?
0:43:07 > 0:43:10Three times, four times a week. Different places like this.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13- Four times a week? - Yeah, do you know what I mean?
0:43:16 > 0:43:21If I'm not in the house with George, I've got to be doing something.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24- Is anyone paying you to do this?- No. - It's virtually a full time job.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27No, it's Cameron's big slave society.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29I'd love a job.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31I want to get a job doing this, tackling this,
0:43:31 > 0:43:36and going into communities where it smells of piss and dried piss.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39That's the places I want to tackle. I want that.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44One of the fellas I was talking to there, Sam, said he does it
0:43:44 > 0:43:47because it's a way of letting off steam from his time as a carer.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50Yeah, it's the same thing as me. You've got to work your exercise off.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53You know, I'm only 46 and George is 41,
0:43:53 > 0:43:55but I still feel I've got lots to give.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57MOBILE PHONE RINGS
0:43:57 > 0:44:01- Sorry.- That's for you.- Yeah, I know. It's a pain in the arse.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04- It's the wife again. - Better answer it then.
0:44:04 > 0:44:08I'll ring you back in two seconds, love. All right?
0:44:10 > 0:44:12All right, bye.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14Do you worry about the wife?
0:44:14 > 0:44:17Yeah, I worry about George, you know what I mean?
0:44:19 > 0:44:21I'm only here for a short period of time.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25I'll only pass through here once and that's it, you know.
0:44:25 > 0:44:27That's all you can do, really.
0:44:39 > 0:44:4422 months and 50,000 cans do tend to leave a bit of a mark on a man.
0:44:47 > 0:44:49It's now become part of my life.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53I can't not go in the street without thinking I've got to pick that can up
0:44:53 > 0:44:56but I'm proud of what I've managed to achieve from it.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00My own little idea, I started going,
0:45:00 > 0:45:02and I followed it through
0:45:02 > 0:45:04and I fully intend to carry it on.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11- MACHINE:- 'Welcome to Tesco Recycling Centre. One item at a time, please.'
0:45:13 > 0:45:18Adrian's 50,000 cans have earned him £250 in vouchers.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20His satisfaction remains undimmed.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25This is the end journey for the cans, this is, for me.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27This is the last time I see them.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29I know they're all counting towards my next goal now
0:45:29 > 0:45:33which is 100,000, which is the next one I'm aiming for.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38So it's great seeing them go down there.
0:45:41 > 0:45:43Validation.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45Purpose.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47Recognition.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49Funny things to find in a far corner of a car park
0:45:49 > 0:45:51but there you go.
0:46:07 > 0:46:12Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd