SEVENTY-ONE bags of rubbish, two trolleys, two dining chairs, a tricycle, a buggy and a Michael Kors handbag were collected at Calais Woods on Saturday.

More than 45 volunteers were on hand to pick up the smorgasbord of waste dumped in the woodland.

The afternoon clean-up was organised by Jude Rae, a member of Save the Calais Woods Wildlife Group, who had grown tired of finding the woods in such a state.

She told the Press: “There’s a real problem with anti-social behaviour. There’s at least six sites within the woods that I know of that are getting trashed.

“There’s been kids at night smashing bottles off trees and stones, and that’s a danger to the dogs that walk with their owners in the woods and to all the wildlife that live in it. It’s become really despairing to see so I decided that something had to be done.”

Jude expressed her delight at the volume of locals who took part in the effort – and the Fife Council worker who uplifted it all later in the day – but highlighted that it wouldn’t be required if younger people took some pride in their own community.

She commented: “None of us are saying that kids and young people shouldn’t enjoy the woods but so many of them are being irresponsible. There’s no need for it. All we’re asking for is for them to take the rubbish they make back out with them and dispose of it appropriately.

“It would only take one of them from the group that they’re in to set an example.

“It seems as though they don’t have any sense of the consequences of their actions.

“I’ve been in contact with the local high schools about this as well because it comes down to educating them correctly and making them realise that what they’re doing is wrong.”