Cleaning has never been so valuable - with the Cotswold District Council offering up a £1,000 prize fund for schools and groups that help keep their communities tidy.

Now it its fourth year, the council's Great Cotswolds Clean Up competition got underway on Saturday and will run until Sunday, April 28.

The launch coincided with Keep Britain Tidy's Great British Spring Clean weekend and saw the first set of teams take to the streets to tidy.

And thanks to the prize fund donated by the Midcounties Cooperative store in Bourton-on-the-Water, the groups that do the most over the next month will be rewarded.

There will be three prizes on offer - £500 for the winner, £300 for second place and £200 for third place.

Matt Windridge, Head of Supermarket Operations at Midcounties Cooperative, said: "We are pleased to lend our support to this wonderful campaign which helps to educate the public about the many benefits of maintaining a clean and tidy environment.

"We are all lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country and it is great to know that a lot of people from all age groups will be coming together to remove unsightly litter and other waste."

To enter, email cdc@cotswold.gov.uk or call 01285 623123 with the location of their litter pick, together with a contact for the group leader.

Before and after photographs of the area being tidied will need to be submitted to the council, as well as the details of the size of the work party and the amount of waste collected.

A panel of council judges will then draw up the shortlist of finalists to assess who claims the prizes.

The Council can supply bags, pickers, gloves and high visibility jackets for clean-up work and can also arrange for collections of filled bags after the litter picks.