A NURSE who became fed up with the amount of litter on her small estate has been waging a ten-year war to keep it clean.

Helena Antoniou, 59, moved to Pencarn Village, Duffryn, a decade ago, but was shocked to see the amount of litter sprinkled around the estate and along the roadways leading into it.

Requests to the local authority fell of deaf ears because roads around the new estate had not been adopted by any councils at that point, meaning the rubbish kept piling up.

“It got so bad that I started clearing the rubbish away myself,” explained Ms Antoniou.

“It reduces the value of houses, and there’s the environmental costs to consider too. It’s such a small estate that we live in, which made it really noticeable.

“I just wanted to make sure that the estate was clean.

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“I’ve gravitated to Duffryn Drive too, all the way down to the Duffryn Arms. I try to do that once every two or three weeks.

“We did a large clean last weekend and found some fly-tipping, which we reported to the council.”

After a decade of solo litter picking, Ms Antoniou said she has been relieved to see similar litter warriors coming out of the woodwork all over Newport.

“I’ve felt that I’ve been on my own for so long in this,” she said.

“But it’s because I’m doing such a small area I suppose. It’s when you start speaking to other people who are doing the same thing that you realise how many people are at it.

“Keep Wales Tidy have been great in helping me get in touch with other people and groups too.

“I’m going along to a litter pick next Sunday morning at 10am. We’re meeting at the Asda petrol station in Duffryn. It’s been organised by Lynda Fish.”

While Ms Antoniou said she will keep up her effort in Duffryn, she admitted the sight of so much litter, mainly thrown from moving cars of Duffryn Drive, still gets her down.

“I think the problem is just so bad in this are in general,” she said.

“Mostly it seems to be people throwing food waste out of cars on the roads. I cleared four bags on Duffryn Drive on Sunday, and it all looked like it had been thrown from car windows.

“When I went back on Monday, I picked up another 30 cans, and took away another bag full. It’s soul destroying really, and I don’t know what the answer is to be honest.”

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Throughout our War on Litter campaign, we want to feature every litter picking hero and volunteer group that we can. As well as your stories, we want your pictures and videos too. If you would like to be featured, or if you want to send us some pictures of problem areas that deserve attention, get in touch by emailing sam.ferguson@gwent-wales.co.uk or joining our dedicated Facebook group – South Wales Argus: War on Litter.