Giant footprints message urges beach visitors to take their litter home

As part of its Take It, Don’t Leave It campaign to stamp out littering, Fylde Council is highlighting a specially-commissioned video which follows the spectacular creation of a series of 10-metre-long footprints in the sand.

It took artist Richard Shilling and his team approximately six hours to create the stunning artwork just west of St Annes Pier during low tide.

The footprints were created using plastic sheeting as a stencil and a rake and were washed away several hours later by the incoming tide.

The Take It, Don’t Leave It campaign first ran throughout the main school holidays last year and the council says it resulted in a marked reduction in litter left per week compared to the May school holidays.

Fylde's united effort to reduce litter a super success

It also resulted in an influx of volunteers signing up to groups that collect litter alongside the council’s teams.

The groups have continued to grow and there are now more volunteers that ever before, with more bins, extra collections and additional teams provided by the council throughout summer.

Artist Richard Shilling (centre) with (from left) Tracey Hope, lead co-ordinator for Fylde litter picking volunteers; ,land artists Julia Brooklyn and Justin Lindsey-Noble and Fylde Council leader Karen Buckley

The council estimates the video has been viewed at least 7,500 times and is hoping that will be added to considerably over the coming holidays.

Coun Karen Buckley, leader of Fylde Council, said: “It is heartening to see people collecting and correctly disposing of their litter after a day of fun, but sadly there are still some individuals that do not clean up after themselves.

“Council teams and a wonderful army of volunteers work incredibly hard to keep the area clean and tidy, but we urge everyone to do their bit and either use the bins provided or take their litter home with them.

“The video was commissioned to make a bold and dramatic statement about the importance of keeping Fylde tidy and it certainly did the trick last year.

“We took inspiration from the quote ‘leave nothing but your footprints’ and the drone footage really captures the dramatic impact of the giant footprints as well as the beauty of our magnificent coastline.

“We hope the message resonates with everyone this year and we can stop littering on the coast and in Fylde’s beautiful rural areas.”

The video can be viewed on the Fylde Council social media pages.