Young Sellafield apprentices have been giving back to their community - by helping to spruce it up.

A group of 15 youngsters, from training provider Gen2, took part in a litter clean-up of Northside and Workington beaches on Tuesday.

The apprentices were all keen to help in some way, and their tutors have praised the attitudes shown by the group as they scooped up several black bin bags full of rubbish.

One apprentice said: “We are in the fortunate position of having a career in front of us- we want to leave Gen2 having given something back to the community.”

The clean-up was organised with the help of tutor Marc McGuirk who stated that the apprentices had been a credit and put their heart and soul into the project.

Involved in the litter pick were: Chloe Kirkbride, Ben Eilbeck, Anthony Wells, Laura Moore, Cameron Pickering, Katie Wightman, Dakota-Rae Bagley, Joseph Atkinson, Charlotte Billington, Toni Morton, Tyler Leslie, Robert Atkinson, Kieron Tomlinson, Georgina Forster and Ryan Nichols.

The clean-up was supported by Sellafield Limited. And Peter Quin, off site apprentice manager for Sellafield Limited praised their efforts.

He said: “We are very proud of our apprentices who display a positive attitude to the wider community of west Cumbria.”

The students’ attitude also came in for praise following the apprentice challenge and the fact that some gave up a day of their holiday to interact with children from Fukushima who visited the area.

The clean-up project was enhanced by lead trainer Jimmy Dixon who contributed his local knowledge to the choice of clean up area.

The apprentices are due to leave Gen2 in two weeks.