Litter picking volunteers enticed by free coffee
![BBC Mike Lowe is smiling at the camera. He was dark hair and beard and is wearing a checked shirt, at the inside counter of a blue mobile coffee stall. Two shelves in front of him on the customer side contain flat basket trays and a row of jarred items. To the right, a blue sign says San Seb coffee van parking only.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/dec4/live/4b618780-e597-11ef-a0f4-b5ec28250d5f.jpg.webp)
A coffee van owner has said dozens of bags of litter have been collected by volunteers after he enticed them with free drinks.
Since 2023, more than 50 bins have been removed along the Tees Barrage which is being blamed for regularly dumped rubbish in the area, although that is refuted by the Canal and River Trust charity.
Mike Lowe from San Seb Coffee said he had been offering a free coffee and a homemade badge to anyone who borrowed one of his litter pickers, with "about 50 bags" being filled in the past two weeks.
The trust thanked the volunteers and said it had been "struggling to make ends meet" when it chose to remove the bins, so it had had to "make some tough decisions".
That stretch of the River Tees in Stockton is a popular walking route but it has built a reputation for litter in recent years.
Mr Lowe told BBC Radio Tees that the response to his initiative had been "amazing".
![A round blue container - with the label San Seb - full of black-handled litter pickers resting on some cobbles and leaning against a set of green metal railings. To the left are a stack of what appear to be black hoops hung on a wooden peg. Behind them can be seen more railings and the top of a concrete structure forming part of the Tees Barrage](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2ea2/live/8f6041c0-e596-11ef-a0f4-b5ec28250d5f.jpg.webp)
"It's also very good for encouraging kids to come down and protect the environment, and just to care for their area," he said.
"It's one of the most beautiful parts of the North East in my opinion, and we need to look after it."
Canal and River Trust regional director Sean McGinley said it had cost £30,000 a year to maintain the bins at the location.
He said removing them was a "tough choice", but that it had been done all over the country.
![Head and shoulder view of a man with a grey beard wearing a blue beanie and a blue fleece. To his right is the entrance to building in sand coloured stone with a blue sign stating Canal and River Trust and a round blue logo. Above him to his left is a bridge with green metal supports and an ornate green metal railing. Beneath it some cars are parked on a tree-lined road.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a583/live/2ed01280-e6d7-11ef-ac93-4351ddbb9948.jpg.webp)
Mr McGinley added that removing the bins had not made a "great difference" to the litter issue.
"We had litter before, when we had the litter bins, and we've still got a bit of litter now," he said.
He thanked the volunteers, saying it was "fantastic to see their efforts helping us and the more the merrier".
Responsibility for the clean-up ultimately lies with Stockton Borough Council, according to government guidelines.
While the landowner is expected to maintain the area, the council could be prosecuted if it failed to take enforcement action where necessary.
Stockton Borough Council leader Bob Cook previously acknowledged the Labour-led council had those powers "if the need arose", adding it had not taken any action against the Canal and River Trust and was not considering doing so "at this stage".