Little Ben's plea to litterbugs

Ben Tweed - who turned seven a fortnight ago - was so upset by the amount of rubbish he saw at the duck pond in Riverside Park he penned his first ever letter begging litterbugs to clean up their act.

Little Ben wrote: “My world is going to be destroyed.

“We have to do something before it is too late.

“When you have litter please put it in the bin.

“This will help our world to be a better place to live in, rather than a dump site.”

Ben sat down to air his frustration after the excursion to the park with family friend Angela Hollis.

“We went down for a walk around the park last week and Ben immediately picked up on the amount of rubbish lying about,” Angela said.

“He was very concerned about it and when we got home Ben asked if he could write a letter about it.

“He took his time, thinking of the right words to say, and when it was finished we decided to send it to the Times so that people might think twice about throwing their litter down.

“He’s a very thoughtful and caring wee boy.”

And the remarkable youngster - a primary three pupil at Leaney Primary School - showed there is no end to his creative talents, sketching our reporter’s car while being interviewed at his Eastburn Drive home.

“People shouldn’t throw their rubbish down,” said Ben.

“They should just put it in a bin and keep everything tidy.

“It doesn’t look nice.”

Ben’s interest in his town isn't restricted to preserving its appearance, he has also shown a desire to brush up on his local history.

Indeed after a recent trip to the Town Hall and museum he asked to take a look around the old church tower and headstones in the cemetery too. “He is so eager to learn and he has always been like that,” said mum Emma.

“I think Ben and Angela ended up spending over an hour going around different places that day with Ben wanting to find out as much as he could.

“He has a wise head on young shoulders.”

All academics need some down time too and when Ben isn’t boosting his knowledge of Ballymoney he turns to his other favourite past-times - skateboarding and playing his Nintendo Wii.