ENVIRONMENTAL woe proved the inspiration for many of the youngsters taking part in Cricklade Festival’s annual parade yesterday.

Avid litter picker Jaxson Harper, five, came dressed as a rubbish bin – his extraordinary costume crafted from a cardboard box.

“I want to clean up the world. I like cleaning up,” said the inspirational youngster. Mum Megan, 38, said: “He loves litter picking around Cricklade. He’s got a red bin at home and a plastic picker.”

Jaxson’s sister, eight-year-old Aurora, had a jellyfish costume – with plastic waste hanging from the creature’s tentacles symbolising the tide of waste in the world’s oceans. She said: “Loads of animals are dying and suffering.”

Evie's love of bees inspired her superhero costume. Wearing a yellow mask, antennae and a sash emblazoned with “Bee Kind” the six-year-old said she had come as Bumblebee Girl: “I want to save the bees.” Mum Emma, 36, said: “I’m really proud.”

Kicking off with a parade through the town at 11am, crowds were kept entertained by the Cricklade Band, morris dancers, drummers and popular Edinburgh Fringe comedy duo Men in Coats.

Founded in 2000, the festival has grown into a bustling street party that closes off the High Street every Fathers’ Day.

Nigel Wynne, chairman of the organising committee, said: “It’s for all the family. There’s something for everybody.”

Speeding at the back of the parade on his electric mobility scooter, tricorn hat-wearing Eric Cripps, the Cricklade town crier, said he hadn’t missed a festival in six years: “People like it. It’s got more and more popular and people come from a long way away. There’s lots of stuff happening – it’s a really good day out. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”