An ENVIRONMENTAL charity is calling on Clydebank residents to take pride in both the River Clyde and Forth and Clyde Canal - by joining them in a week of action.

From September 14-20, Keep Scotland Beautiful will be running activities every day for people to take part in along the length of the river and its tributaries.

As part of the ongoing Upstream Battle campaign, these will aim to help reduce the amount of litter that ultimately reaches the sea.

Community groups, schools, businesses and individuals are also being encouraged to arrange their own activities.

As well as joining in a planned event or organising one of your own, residents can help spread the word on social media, give two minutes of the day to pick up litter and recycle or bin it, and complete a litter survey of the local waterway.

Paul Wallace of Keep Scotland Beautiful said: “We hope that volunteers will come out in droves. A drinks bottle or crisp packet carelessly discarded on our streets has a fair chance of ending up in our rivers and polluting the ocean.”

Earlier this year, environmentalists Friends of Dumbarton Foreshore were one of 16 groups chosen to spearhead the ambitious clean up campaign.

On the weekend of September 14/15, they hope to hold a litter pick, as well as their their second citizen litter survey for Keep Scotland Beautiful. This is weather and tide dependant, so the exact details will be posted on the group’s Facebook page on the preceding Wednesday.

The campaign has also been backed by high-profile ambassadors, funders and organisations, including BBC Blue Planet cameraman Doug Allan who helped formally launch it.

He said: “What we do on land directly affects the health of our rivers and our seas and everything that lives in them. It’s time to get serious about the source of marine litter.”

For more information visit keepscotlandbeautiful.org/upstreambattle/week-of-action/.