This is how the mess left behind at Leeds Festival 2018 is helping the city's homeless

Charities and community groups are making the most of the mess left behind at Leeds Festival to benefit the less fortunate.

Several local groups have been scavenging the hundreds of leftover tents, sleeping bags and other useful resources to help the homeless and less fortunate around Leeds and further afield.

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Gaz Mack and a team of volunteers for the Community Kitchen - a non-profit grassroots organisation - raided the abandoned campsites at Bramham Park, filling a van to the rafters with dozens of leftover items.

Gaz, who sent us these pictures of the clean-up operation, said: "Community Kitchen went salvaging Leeds Festival and once again it was a right mess, but lots of tents, sleeping bags and other useful items for our friends on the streets of Leeds.

"Thank you to all the lazy sods who can't be bothered cleaning their mess up every year, it keeps us going.

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"Peace love and light always, Gaz, Jess and everyone from community."

Festival organisers said: “2018 was a record year for salvagers with 930 individuals coming to Reading and Leeds from approximately 200 voluntary and charitable organisations.

"They collected reusable items such as tents and sleeping bags for organisations including local Scouts and Girl Guides, Sea Cadets, help for refugees, Lombok Earthquake Relief and residents associations such as WADRA.

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"The salvaging will continue this week alongside an extensive cleaning operation provided by Closed Loop Recycling (Reading) and Ryans Cleaning (Leeds). Previous years saved approx. 30 tonnes from going to landfill or incineration.

"Festival Republic is committed to building on recycling initiatives and reducing overall waste year on year through schemes including Co-Op’s reverse vending machines, Greenpeace’s deposit return systems and the education of campers about zero waste philosophy by Everything is Possible ‘Festival Bin Investigators’ in each campsite.

"Thank you to all campers who engaged with these initiatives and the dedicated volunteers who salvaged from what was left. ”

Leeds Festival took place over three days last weekend at Bramham Park, with headliners Kings of Leon, Fall Out Boy and Kendrick Lemar wowing tens of thousands of revellers.