POLITICIANS and activists from across the political spectrum recently put aside their differences to remove disgusting amounts of rubbish.

Bickering and political point-scoring were cast aside a few days ago when representatives from Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats put on gloves to tackle fly-tipping.

The lane running behind Kwik-Fit and The Neon, in St Julians, Newport has in recent years been a hot-bed for fly-tipping.

And after two hours, the volunteers managed to fill more than 25 bags of rubbish.

Leader of the Liberal Democrats in Newport, Cllr Carmel Townsend, who was at the litter pick with her daughter Cllr Holly, said: “I was really shocked when I saw the rubbish in the lane.

“This was one of the worst amounts of fly-tipping we have seen in Newport.

“It was disgusting to see this being dumped. It needs to stop.”

A freezer, carpet, and food waste were among the dumped items.

Labour Cllr Phil Hourahine was also picking up rubbish.

He said: “It was a pleasure to get together with other councillors and residents to tidy up the mess.

“We will continue to do our best with keeping the area tidy.”

And Conservative activist Mike Enea added: “We were all there for about two hours.

“We had had two complaints on the Conservative Facebook page about the mess there.

“We came across all sorts of rubbish. It was disgusting and people need to stop doing this. It is ruining parts of the area.

“It was good to see political parties coming together to clean the area. Thank you to everyone who attended.”

Attempts have been made to find out who owns the land.