A north-west daily has recruited a new member of staff – to pick up litter.

But it isn’t just any old litter-picking position though as it comes with a Manchester Evening News branded bike and trailer.

Since launching a free city centre edition of the MEN last year, MEN Media has employed a three-strong team of litter pickers to keep the city’s streets free of discarded newspapers.

Now a fourth member has been added to the team, complete with their own bike and trailer.

Alan Brown, distribution director at MEN Media, said: “Our waste disposal team pick up any discarded papers, not just the MEN, and record what has been collected.

“This data shows that less than one per cent of waste reaches the streets.

“The perception among the public is that if they see a newspaper on the streets of Manchester it must be the Manchester Evening News which often isn’t the case.

“When we started our free city centre distribution we placed as much emphasis on working with the council to control newspapers on the streets as we did getting the free city centre edition ready.

“The introduction of someone on a bike to help collect waste is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure the streets of Manchester are paper free.”