Litter picking drive by employees of High Street fast-food chain aimed to clean up High Barnet’s rubbish-blighted hotspots

Staff from nearby McDonald’s restaurants joined employees at the High Barnet branch for their annual litter pick targeting areas in and around the town which residents’ associations said needed tidying up.

Company policy recommends a daily clean-up of restaurant litter found within 200 metres of each McDonald’s branch, but franchisees are urged to work closely with their local communities by staging a more intensive effort whenever possible.

Five teams set off to collect litter along footpaths, alleyways and areas of open ground close to the town centre which seem to miss out on street cleaning by Barnet Council.

Franchisee Hubs Bakshi (above, centre) – whose franchise takes in five local branches including High Barnet, Potters Bar and Borehamwood – welcomed the chance to join the litter pick.

“Each branch organises an annual litter pick which is one of the ways the McDonald’s fast-food chain likes to support local initiatives.

“We work with the Chipping Barnet police community action panel which liaises with residents’ groups. They suggest the litter hotspots which need attention.”

Mr Bakshi – seen with his branch supervisor Moin Qureshi and people manager April Bladon – acknowledged that it was an uphill task trying to encourage some customers not to throw away cups and packaging once they had finished eating.

“We do try to nudge our customers to be responsible. We have lots of signs encouraging good behaviour.

“We do talks in schools, and we do try to set an example by ensuring we are making a contribution to the town and hopefully benefiting the community.”

Mr Bakshi insisted that McDonald’s was tackling the problem from different angles.

Recently the company had been introducing new recycling systems to separate food waste from cups, packaging and aluminium cans.

Waste oil left over from making chips was now being used as a biofuel to power McDonald’s delivery vehicles.

Mr Bakshi joined the team litter picking in the High Street alleyway between Boots and Gail’s Bakery.

They had to tackle a vast accumulation of food wrappers, cigarette packets, aluminium cans and other detritus. He did find one discarded McDonald’s paper cup.

In the car park at the rear of the alleyway there were even deeper piles of litter confronting April Bladon, who is people manager for more than 300 employees in five branches. From left to right, April Bladon, Fara Gomes, Drashti Savani and Drashti Sangani.