MORE than 200 primary school pupils took part in a clean-up operation in Darwen.

Taking it upon themselves to tidy their town, Holy Trinity Primary School pupils and staff gathered up more than 50 bags of rubbish from the town centre and in Bold Venture Park.

The ‘Your Call’ event, organised by the school in conjunction with Blackburn with Darwen Council, was aimed at involving the school in the wider community.

Mark Standen, headteacher at the Bank Top school, said: “We want to put the school at the heart of the community.

“By doing events like this we can really engage our pupils with the town and hopefully foster a sense of civic pride within younger generations.

“I wish to thank all staff and pupils who took part in this ‘Your Call’ event.”

Sunnyhurst councillor Dave Smith, who also took part in the clean-up, said: “It is great that the pupils and staff of Holy Trinity have shown such great community spirit through this event.

“The pupils are a great credit to the school.”

Executive member for environment Coun Jim Smith said: “It is really important that our young people get involved with their communities.

“I want to thank Holy Trinity for the work they did through the ‘Your Call’ scheme and I hope other young people follow their fine example.”

Recent ‘Your Call’ events in Darwen have seen important areas improved to the benefit of the community.

Last week, volunteers cut the grass and tidied up the Square Meadow, which is being brought back into use as a community sports facility. And before that, a large group of people teamed up and trekked to Darwen Tower to collect rubbish across the area.