A GROUP of community-minded volunteers came together this week to help clean up Earlswood Lakes.
Increasing amounts of litter, including dangerous items like smashed glass, as well as dog mess, has turned the path and park into an eyesore.
Organised by the Save Earlswood Lakes Group, with the help of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, nearly a dozen people donned their gardening gloves and got to work on Monday picking up the litter in an effort to make the lakes a nicer place for walkers and families.
Tony Gillam, one of the project's organisers, said not enough is being done to preserve the state of the lakes.
"The council aren't doing a lot because they haven't got the manpower so we said we'd help them," he said. "People just get fed-up walking around and seeing loads of rubbish. We're just going round and doing some litter-picking to tidy it up a bit."
Ajay Askoolum, a 58-year-old software developer who came to lend a hand, said: "I live locally and it makes sense to keep the local environment clean. It seems fairly tidy in most places but if you don't do anything about it it accumulates. I think it's important we do this because this is a nice family-friendly area and it's free to use."
Other volunteers used the clean up as a day out and a lesson on keeping the countryside clean.
Wendy Smythe from Merstham, who brought her four-year-old son Leo along for the clear up, said she didn't want to see the lake become an eyesore.
She said: "It's a nice place to come with children and it's always been a nice, large area to play but to see it going downhill isn't a good thing so if we can keep it tidy then it will give the children something to do. And it teaches them to look after their countryside."
Her son Leo said: "I've come to help tidy up."
