MEMBERS of Keighley's Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association began the new year with a now-traditional clean up of the town centre.

After 6am prayers on New Year's Day at their Worth Way mosque, they took to the streets equipped with brushes, bin bags, litter-picking sticks and high-visibility jackets.

Imam, Abdul Hadi, said the event was designed to give something back to Keighley – "a town which has offered us so much, including religious freedom."

And the effort was part of a nationwide initiative by the association.

Keighley youth leader Hammad Ahmed says: "Littering costs the UK an estimated £660 million a year.

"Whilst the Government and local authorities are doing a great deal to address this issue, we feel strongly that it is our religious and civic duty to also act. From a religious perspective, both cleanliness and looking after our local communities is an essential part of the Islamic faith."