CHIPPING SODBURY School and The Ridings High School are two of only six schools in South Gloucestershire to be taking part in a new litter campaign.

The secondary schools are being targeted by a newly appointed council officer, who is working with teachers and pupils to improve the schools' grounds and surrounds.

Sally Pattison, who is spearheading the South Gloucestershire Council-run campaign, has visited students in Chipping Sodbury and at The Ridings in Winterbourne to give talks and presentations and work actively to change young peoples' opinions on litter.

She was originally asked to liaise with five schools in the region, including others in Filton and Downend, until The Ridings requested Ms Pattison's help.

She said: "The first phase of this litter campaign is to work with secondary schools but I hope to extend it out to the community afterwards.

"A lot of litter is dropped by young people and I am trying to link in anti-litter ideas with their curriculum. In Chipping Sodbury, we are linking it to citizenship classes and becoming a more responsible citizen.

"We have talked about litter in students' local area and have been out collecting rubbish in the school grounds."

Ms Pattison will measure the success of her campaign by monitoring the number of complaints about litter made to South Gloucestershire Council's Street Care department and by taking photographs of certain areas in Chipping Sodbury every week. She hopes to see a reduction in the amount of litter pictured.

During a presentation to Winterbourne Parish Council last week, Ms Pattison said that changing the minds of a few people would be the first step to making a difference.

Parish council chairman Cllr David Fletcher said: "It is nice to know that something in this area is going on."

Cllr Carol Thorne, former headteacher of Frenchay Primary School, said: "The Ridings themselves contribute to the problem by serving meals in disposable containers. It is a mark of honour not to put litter in a bin if you are a teenager but we had no litter because my pupils were not allowed to bring any sweets into school."