A young boy is attempting to save the environment - by picking up plastic bands on the school run.

Sam Vain, four, has been riding his scooter to Sacred Heart Nursery, in Bushey, since last September and during his commute he has been picking up rubber bands from the floor.

On the 15 minute walk to the nursery, Sam has collected more than 500 rubber bands and now other children at the nursery have started collecting them as well.

The four-year-old said: “I wanted them on my scooter. I want to stop the cats and squirrels from eating them and choking.”

Sam has now been picking up the elastic bands for a full year and his grandmother, Paula Innes, of Bournehall Avenue, Bushey, hopes he will continue in his second year.

She said: “It is a great thing for him to do even though he does not realise he is doing it.

“We are very proud of him. He now spots them a mile away. He will go back and pick one up.

“This is just something he wanted to do when he started going on his scooter. I hope he carries on picking them up. It is a good thing he is doing.”

Sam will start his second year at Sacred Heart Nursery at the beginning of September.