A FAST-food giant has vowed to work with a Keighley primary school to tackle litter in the community.

McDonald's has offered to provide staff and equipment for a blitz on rubbish.

The move comes after Year 5 pupils at Eastwood Community School carried out an environmental investigation.

A 45-minute litter pick around the perimeter of the school, held as part of the initiative, resulted in 22 bags of rubbish being collected – including nearly 70 items of McDonald's-branded waste.

The children examined potential ways of addressing the general problem, including designing innovative litter bins which would reward users and creating posters for residents to display in their windows.

And two pupils, Inara Rahman and Aman Iqbal, decided to approach McDonald's directly.

They delivered a letter about the issue, together with some of the rubbish they'd collected, to the Hard Ings Road restaurant.

Inara says: "Companies like McDonald's have a social responsibility. They have many customers right on our doorstep, so they need to show they want to be part of the solution to reducing dropped litter."

Restaurant bosses explained to the pupils that it does carry out Love Where You Live litter picks, and they pledged to provide staff and equipment for the next school litter blitz.

A company spokesperson added: "Our Keighley restaurant is committed to being a good neighbour in the local community. A dedicated team member conducts daily litter picks to collect all waste, not just McDonald’s-branded packaging, within the vicinity of the restaurant and beyond, seven days a week.

"The restaurant team will be getting in touch with the school after the holidays to see how they can work together."

The Eastwood pupils shared the findings of their environmental investigation at a science fair held at Carlton Keighley secondary school.

Aman said: "When we had a discussion about what we thought about our area, everyone agreed that litter was the first thing that came to mind."

Mrs Suzanne Carter, headteacher at Eastwood Community School, praised the children for their efforts.

She added: "Care, community and collaboration are central to our school vision and values. We’re so proud of our Year 5 children for embodying these with their litter project."

Local councillor Amjad Zaman paid tribute to the "determination and passion" shown by the pupils and has offered his support.