A man who last year picked tons of litter from the verges of the A49 between Hereford and Leominster, has this year turned his attentions to the A465 out of Hereford.

In the past three weeks or so, Thomas Collingwood, familiar to many as Geordie, has filled literally hundreds of sacks with the litter drivers have thrown from the windows of their cars and lorries, amazing many who spot the piles of purple bags at regular intervals, waiting to be collected by Balfour Beatty.

But he's not finished yet, and thinks that he may be able to continue until early May, at which point the vegetation will make it impossible to spot the litter.

Mr Collingwood, who lives in Hereford, explains that it is his love of cycling that led to his Herculean litter-picking missions. That, and having no TV or internet.

"So I do a lot of cycling and that's how the litter caught my eye," Mr Collingwood explains. "And on a bike you think a lot about things," and one of those things was wondering why someone living in an expensive house wouldn't bother to pick the litter up outside. "So I thought, 'I'll do that, and that's how I ended up doing it."

He has already reached a point a couple of miles west of Locks garage, where he is a familiar figure, popping in at least once a day. 

He calculates that, "I must have done the Hereford to Abergavenny road 100 times over the years."

And until the grass grows too long, he'll be out there in all weathers, committed to clearing up other people's mess.

"It really looks nice now when you drive along," he says.