MEET Milo, the Isle of Wight's litter-picker extraordinaire.

Milo is an 11-year-old Springer Spaniel who just can't stop picking up rubbish — and even a conservative estimate puts Milo's haul at more than 1,000 bottles in the last two years.

He goes for daily walkies with his owner, Carol Boyce, of Newport, and will do anything needed to fill a plastic bag with discarded waste, whether he needs to fully immerse himself in the River Medina, jump into a pond or rummage into the depths of a hedge.

Carol said: "He started about two years ago. He started bringing me bottles, probably thinking I would throw them for him, but I just started putting them in a plastic bag.

"The more I bag up, the more he goes to fetch. He thinks it's a good game. He goes hunting, and his favourite find is Lucozade bottles. He is not so keen on cans as he cut his mouth once, but he still retrieves them.

"Mainly we go along the cycle path next to the River Medina, from Newport towards Island Harbour, or we go to the beach.

"It is unbelievable what rubbish is around — aerosol cans, glass bottles, you name it. But he is funny, he will go in the water and fish it all out."

Milo is getting quite well-known now, as lots of walkers stop to chat to Carol to find out what they are getting up to. She often sees other people with binbags, carrying out a litter pick, but doesn't know of any other litter-picking dogs.

"He is a really good dog," she said.

"I reckon on average we salvage 6 to 20 bottles a day and we have been doing this for two years, so it adds up to a lot of rubbish. This side of the river must be a lot cleaner now, thanks to Milo, so I am very proud of him."