A TOWN'S very own 'Womble' today pledged to install new litter bins at a park after council chiefs told him they could not help until next year.

Pensioner Barry Bolton spends every weekday morning trawling across White Ash playing fields, off Harvey Street, Oswaldtwistle, collecting up rubbish left by dog walkers, football players and other park users.

The 65-year-old believes fewer people would drop rubbish if the park -- one of Oswaldtwistle's main open spaces -- had more litter bins.

In the two years now-retired Barry, who used to work for a paint supply company in Cherry Tree, Blackburn, has been collecting rubbish, which he then disposes of, there have been just three litter bins.

And last month, three became two when one was set on fire by local youngsters then removed by Hyndburn Council. It has yet to be replaced.

Barry, of Cardigan Avenue, Oswaldtwistle, approached Hyndburn Council to ask for more bins to be put in place.

When he was told there was no money left for extra bins this year, Barry, whose weekly pension is less than £80, vowed to buy his own -- and empty them himself too!

He said: "It is such a popular place, but it is spoilt by all the litter being dropped.

"The two bins which are left aren't in appropriate places. I think they need to be placed closer to the main football pitches because that is where the most of the rubbish is.

"I mainly get wrappers and cans and oranges left behind. I am sure people wouldn't drop them on the floor if there were a bin, but they don't have anywhere to put them at the moment."

Barry added: "It is more of a hobby for me. I go out every morning and pick up the rubbish. There is another man who seems to do the same thing, but I don't know who he is. I just think it is a shame that there is so much rubbish and I am happy to get rid of it."

Barry has also become popular with local youngsters after he built two sets of goalposts where children congregate at night.

He added: "They don't want to play on the pitches because they are in the middle of the field so it is further to walk. The first set I built got knocked down, but the new set are much tougher.

"I am now hoping the council will make the ground smoother.

"If I could afford the asphalt, I would do it myself."

Coun Peter Britcliffe, chairman of Oswaldtwistle Area Council, told Barry at the meeting: "There is no more money left for new bins at the moment.

"We have to think about where we site them so they can be emptied easily. It is a kind gesture to fit and empty ones of your own.

"We are looking into the hard-surface area to see what we can do."