Cheltenham McDonald's restaurant teams have taken part in a litter pick as part of the Great British Spring Clean, following the Cheltenham Festival which attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the town.

Fifteen crew members and helpers from the restaurants, which are owned and operated by local franchisee Paul Toner, were joined by Alex Chalk, the Cheltenham MP and Justice Secretary.

The volunteers joined forces to tidy up Cheltenham town centre after race week concluded, collecting an impressive 15 full bags of rubbish between them.

McDonald's franchisee Paul Toner, who owns and operates eight restaurants in Gloucestershire, said: "I couldn't be prouder of my incredible team for giving their time to their local community, ensuring the areas we all enjoy are clear of litter after Cheltenham Festival.

"People are at the very heart of what we do, and this is just one example of our dedication to being a good neighbour. It's particularly exciting to be a part of initiatives like this as McDonald's celebrates its 50th year in the UK."

Alex Chalk MP said: "It's vital we all do our part to keep Cheltenham a clean and tidy place for all those who live, work and visit, so I was delighted to team up with our local McDonald's crew to clean up the town centre after Cheltenham Festival."

McDonald's crew members have been cleaning up litter dropped in local communities for over 35 years. Crews across the UK cover a total of 5,000 miles each week on litter patrols where they collect all types of litter, not just McDonald's branded packaging. This equates to 260,000 miles, or the distance from Earth to the Moon since the programme began in the late '80s.

McDonald's is tackling litter in local communities, both by litter picking and reducing the amount of waste its restaurants produce.

The brand has been working to make recycling easier over the past four years too, and since 2015, has installed over 1,100 new recycling units, meaning it's easier to separate plastics and cups for recycling in 85% of its restaurants. McDonald's also collects used oil from its kitchens and turns this into enough biodiesel to fuel more than half of its delivery fleet.