A knight in green armour is the latest weapon in the war against litter.

The fictional Sir Litternot has been created by Ashford Borough Council to encourage people to keep the streets clean and tidy.

The character is set to appear in Ashford town centre on Saturday, when an anti-littering exhibition will be held in County Square from 10am - 2pm.

Cllr Jessamy Blanford said: “It costs UK tax payers about £885m a year to keep England’s streets clean, with 48% of people admitting to dropping litter.”

Cllr Blanford said that on-the-spot fines could be issued for dropping litter later on in the year as new enforcement powers come into place.

He added: “Prevention is far better than punishment and we want to educate people and encourage them to stop littering so we don’t have to issue fines.”

Sir Litternot’s slogan is “Use litterbins and everyone wins!” and he will be taking his message to schools, exhibitions and events.

Ashford Gateway Plus library is holding a writing competition over the summer for youngsters to devise a story about the knight.

The council is asking residents to support the Sir Litternot campaign by not dropping litter, reporting litter or flytipping at www.ashford.gov.uk/litter and tweeting pictures of themselves using litter bins with the slogan ‘Use litterbins and everyone wins!’