HALDON Forest Park recently held its sixth annual Big Litter Pick, with volunteers uncovering 58 bags of rubbish — as well as everything from a plastic paddling pool to a vehicle exhaust.

Rangers teamed up with businesses and organisations along the Haldon ridge for the clean-up on Thursday, September 3.

Volunteers from McDonald’s, Teign Bean Coffee and neighbouring businesses, along with colleagues from other Forestry England sites, spread out across around four miles, clearing roads, verges and gateways.

And though businesses regularly litter pick around their own sites, the annual event brings them together to tackle a wider stretch of Haldon.

Among the more unusual items collected this year were a plastic paddling pool, a camping chair, a vehicle exhaust, several pieces of vehicle trim and part of a wheel.

The haul also included two rusted road signs, two abandoned traffic cones, four nitrous oxide canisters, a piece of kitchen worktop, a section of scaffold board, a mop handle, pieces of wood and a mini pedal bin.

Despite the variety of rubbish discovered, this year’s overall total was lower than in 2025, when volunteers collected 79 bags.

A spokesperson for Haldon Forest Park said: ‘Litter spoils the landscape, can fuel wildfires, and causes damage to natural ecosystems, so it’s always disappointing to find waste that has been left behind or thrown from vehicles.

‘This year’s litter total was smaller than last year (79 bags), which is a great result that there was less litter polluting this beautiful area of countryside’.

The spokesperson thanked everyone who visits or drives through Haldon and takes their rubbish home.

Haldon Forest Park forms part of 1,500 hectares of working forest across the Haldon Hills, managed by Forestry England since the 1920s.