A leading Yorkshire businessman has commissioned and starred in his own film in a personal crusade against litter.

Fed up with the “horrible litter which is desecrating our beautiful Yorkshire countryside”, former joint chairman of Keighley-based Peter Black Holdings, Thomas Black, has taken matters into his own hands.

Mr Black, 75, drafted in Leeds-based filmmaker David Varley to shoot the campaign film at Denton, near Ilkley.

He said: “I am lucky enough to live in one of the most beautiful areas of Yorkshire, on the outskirts of Ilkley, and it makes me so cross – and so sad – to see how many people disrespect the countryside and dump their revolting litter anywhere they want. Talk is cheap, though, and I decided to do something about it. I started off by doing my own litter-collecting rounds, close to my home, but I felt these were a drop in the ocean in response to an overwhelming problem. I needed to do something more hard-hitting, which would reach a wider audience.”

He came up with the idea of a short film which he hopes will make people think and laugh at the same time.

The film, produced and directed by David Varley and his production company OnFilm.biz, is called Don’t Drop Litter Or Else!

It stars Mr Black himself, together with Gareth Finister, who plays a yobbish litterbug, and Tony Hudson, who plays a farmer with a muckspreading machine, with Patch the Wonder Dog adding a fine cameo role.

“I don’t want to give too much away, because people should see the film for themselves,” said Mr Black. “Suffice it to say that I tackle a yob who is dumping loads of litter in the lovely Yorkshire countryside.”

Mr Black has also teamed up with Guiseley’s very own Mr Litter, Jeff Yates, to promote an anti-litter campaign in Yorkshire. Mr Yates, a deputy head teacher at a Leeds primary school, has devoted all of his spare time for the past 11 years to collecting litter.

Mr Yates said: “If we can repeat the message over and over again that dropping litter is socially unacceptable, then we may make a difference eventually.”

  • Don’t Drop Litter Or Else! can be seen on YouTube at youtube.com/watch?v=4EXZAb1kNcE and Thomas Black’s Facebook page facebook.com/pages/Dont-Drop-Litter-Or-Else/605286959554410.