The kid armed with a strimmer who'd had enough

An eight-year-old in Oldham has taken matters into his own hands to make his area safer and cleaner. Thomas Stewart, who lives with his parents and two siblings in Chadderton, had enough of the overgrown and litter-plagued back alleys in his neighbourhood.

When he was just five years old, he started litter-picking and gardening in public spaces. But recently, he's had to ramp up his mission considerably following complaints in the neighbourhood that the council 'weren't keeping up' with maintenance of green spaces and alleys.

Thomas' mum, Rebecca, said: "The walkway we did last week - we used to be able to walk down that no problems. But in the past couple of months it's been getting harder and harder, especially with a pram.

"The first time we did it, we just had a pair of scissors and I had to take it off him because I was getting stung head to toe and didn't want him to get hurt."

Armed with a miniature strimmer recently bought by the community through a crowdfunder, the young plant enthusiast tackles public spaces 'whenever he can'.

"It makes a big difference [to the community]," Rebecca explained. "When we first did the library area, more people suddenly started coming there there, walking their dogs and so on. [Thomas] absolutely loves doing it. And he thrives on praise."

And Thomas has big ambitions. Asked why he loved cleaning up the neighbourhood, he said: "I love to save people and the world. And with the nettles, I just want to kill them so no one gets stung."

His dream is to create a community garden in Chadderton where locals can grow fruit and veg so that people 'have a nice place to go'. The family is running a crowdfunder to raise the funds for more tools and projects. But Thomas' ambition hasn't been