A TYNDRUM café has launched a monthly litter picking campaign to tackle rising amounts of rubbish in the Trossachs.

Real Food Café decided to take the matter into their own hands with a campaign of litter picking around the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park – promising free fish and chips for volunteers who roll up their sleeves.

The first monthly litter pick event is set to take place on Sunday, May 30, and will carry on every last Sunday of the month until October.

The initiative is being launched in conjunction with the Keep Scotland Beautiful Campaign, set to take place between May 28 and June 20.

Colin McGeoch, café manager, is spearheading the project and will be weighing the litter collected each month with results to be announced on social media.

The manager, who lives in the area, said: “It’s been gutting to see my local area being treated like this every day on my way to work.

“We are proud to welcome visitors from all over the world to the Real Food Café.

“They come to this area because of its natural beauty but the volume of rubbish is increasingly destroying our natural environment.

“Community is at the heart of everything we do in the café, so we’ve decided to take the matter into our own hands.

“We decided to launch it to coincide with the Keep Scotland Beautiful campaign because this organisation is trying hard to tackle climate change and reducing litter and waste.

“I am really looking forward to making this happen; we have had an amazing response from the community so far and I’m sure we’ll get visitors from further afield who are keen to play their part too.”

At each litter pick, there will be 20 spaces available for anyone from café staff and Tyndrum residents to visitors, families and senior citizens.

Spaces must be booked in advance and organisers will provide everything needed including high visibility jackets, litter pickers and bags.

Café co-owner Sarah Heward welcomed the move, amid her calls for improved infrastructure to support rural areas.

With an increase in staycations causing increased traffic in the area last summer, she created The Tyndrum Infrastructure Group, aiming to secure funding for a Changing Places toilet, carpark, public toilets, and baby changing facilities, more bins, tourist information boards and rural housing.

Sarah said: “We absolutely love tourists visiting our café and the local areas, it’s our bread and butter and supports so many other rural businesses too.

“However, the areas are being degraded by litter and there are social issues that need to be addressed.

“The root of the problem is that we do not have strong infrastructure in rural Scotland.

“It’s not just Tyndrum that is suffering; there are similar issues in so many places from the Cairngorms to Skye.”

People looking to sign up for the first litter pick, which will go ahead between 10.15am and 1pm on May 30, can email info@therealfoodcafe.com for more details.

Follow Real Food Café on social media for details of future litter picks.