Firefighters across East Cambridgeshire are calling on the public to donate their unwanted clothing and textiles.

More than 20 stations across the county, and four stations in East Cambs are competing to collect as much unwanted clothing as possible in the month of January to raise funds for The Fire Fighters Charity.

East Cambs stations taking part include Ely, Soham, Littleport and Burwell.

The teams are all hoping to be crowned top of the charity’s UK textile recycling league, which is a national competition among fire stations based on the quantity of textiles collected throughout January.

Last year, Fenland fire station Chatteris collected the third highest total in the country, with other Cambridgeshire stations fairing well in the top 20.

For every tonne gathered at the recycling banks The Fire Fighters Charity receives £220, and since being launched, the scheme has raised £1 million nationwide.

Kevin Biles, from the charity, said: “If the people of Cambridgeshire could take a look in their wardrobes and see if they have any clothes, shoes or handbags they don’t want, now would be a great time to donate. It doesn’t matter what state the clothing is in as it will all be recycled.

“This is a great scheme because it is of no cost to the charity and every penny raised from generous donations by the public goes towards the valuable work we do, including to support our three rehabilitation centres.”