Tributes to 'legend' litter picker who walked 750 miles a year tidying up rubbish

A former school teacher who later became known for his mission to remove rubbish from his local village in Trafford has died at the age of 84.

Keith Neal would walk an average of 750 miles a year picking up litter from near his home in Hale and in south Manchester in an effort to tidy the streets. He died peacefully in his sleep on Saturday (April 8).

Keith, who taught biology at Manchester Grammar School from 1976 until 1999, became a local pin-up star as part of his ‘Keith Says’ advertising campaign which encouraged people to throw their rubbish away properly.

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Ten years ago, in 2013, Keith made headlines when he collected more than 1,000 discarded rubber bands from the streets after they were dumped by postal workers. He later returned them back to Royal Mail. By 2014, he had collected 3,000.

He told the Daily Mail at the time: “We all need to care more for our environment and show through example that we can all do our bit.”

Keith would regularly walk at least three miles a day as part of his litter-picking mission, saying it was good exercise and helped him stay fit.

In July 2014, Keith and a group of friends from St Peter’s Church in Hale, which he regularly attended, started a bimonthly litter pick. The group has collected more than 1,000 bags of rubbish since it was launched.

Keith was a former Church Warden of St Peter’s Church and chaired the church’s Mission in Action Committee co-ordinating the parish’s charitable outreach.

“I was fortunate to know him as a fellow member of St Peter’s church where he and I were church wardens together,” Vicki Wells told the M.E.N.

“Despite being one of the older members of the congregation he had a very