THE Wombles are on the march in Minehead. Inspired by the legendary 1970s children’s television characters who collected rubbish to help the environment, a new group pledged to tidy up the town, tackled their first major job yesterday (Thursday) when nearly 20 volunteers went Wombling along the overgrown footpath between Minehead station and Seaward Way, weeding and picking up litter.

The Minehead Wombles is the brainchild of police officer and local resident Sam Donati, who said: “We’ve already got 100 members, which is fantastic. We’re just building on the great work lots of people already do locally in enhancing areas of the town that need it.

“It was a really good turnout, mainly of retired people because it was a weekday, and we are very grateful to the town council which is giving us a lot of support and provided bags and litter-pickers.

“The idea is simple - people post online information about areas and corners of Minehead that need a bit of sprucing up and Wombles who are available will do the job - stuff like clearing weeds, maybe even light mending, and enhancing some of our forgotten green spaces.

“Many hands make light work, and it will be great to improve and enhance areas of the town that need it. I’ve been doing this locally for a while, and hopefully this is a way to connect and inspire like-minded individuals to make Minehead even more beautiful!”

Sam added: “We need people to tell us what jobs need doing so that our Wombles can plan what tools to bring. The aim of Wombling is small-scale wins, little areas that we can make better which people will notice.

“We’re not aiming to tackle huge sites which need big machinery and which generate huge piles of waste. Just neglected corners in need of a spruce-up. Don’t put yourself at risk when you’re Wombling!”

Sam is looking for more volunteers and hopes to plan jobs for weekends so that working people can take part.

“It doesn’t have to be a big undertaking - perhaps just a spare hour out of your day. You don’t need loads of kit - a pair of gloves and secateurs will get you well on the way to Wombling!”

For further information, visit Minehead Wombles on Facebook.