THE battle against litter in a village near Winchester is about to be boosted after two new bins were provided by the local supermarket.

Colden Common resident, Pam Glasspool, contacted the Co-op about rubbish gathering near the skate park on St Vigor Way.

Ms Glasspool said: “I regularly walk across the village green past the skate park where sadly there is always piles of rubbish on the ground. I saw that much of the rubbish was packaging from food and drinks bought from the store the night before by the young people who gather there each evening.

“When I talked to them about their rubbish it was clear they are polite and responsible young adults who respect their environment.

They said most of them try to keep the place clean but the broken old bins left everything open to the elements, with birds, animals and the weather helping to spread rubbish all over the place.”

“The council has spent a huge amount on the skate park and funds were not available for replacement bins so I made contact with The Southern Co-operative who immediately responded that they love to be involved in community projects,” she added. “They liaised with our parish council to make this happen.”

Chair of Colden Common Parish Council, Richard Izard, said: “This is another fantastic example of The Southern Co-operative working with the community in which they already provide a valuable contribution to its on-going needs.”

The Southern Co-operative also recently supported Colden Common's Colden core apple recipe book which has so far raised nearly £950 towards the cost of providing a toilet in the village church.

Store Manager Paul Richards said: “Community support is really important to The Southern Co-operative and I'm pleased that we have been able to respond to a request from one of our members and given practical support to improve the local environment.”