Schoolchildren have been invited to unleash their imagination and creativity to design a recycling champion for the district.

East Cambridgeshire District Council have launched an innovative competition aimed at primary school pupils who have been asked to draw or paint the hero – Michael.

A winning design will be picked to front the “Be Like Michael, Recycle” campaign in the first week of January.

The winning child will receive £50 for themselves and £200 for their school and will see their work brought to life by a professional illustrator and costume designer.

Councillor Julia Huffer, waste and recycling champion for East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “Michael’s job will be to demonstrate how to recycle, what you can recycle and bring to life the concept of reusing waste and acting like a responsible citizen.

“Michael will form a central part of our campaign but what he looks like will be in the hands of the next generation of recyclers.”

Primary schools across the region have been provided with a man-shaped template to help younger participants but older children have been asked to work freehand.

Dave White, Waste Services Team Leader, said: “We want children to really unleash their imaginations.

“Michael could be a man, an animal or any other weird and wonderful creature the children can come up with. We can’t wait to see the entries.”

The winning design will appear on the side of recycling lorries, on council leaflets and its website.

Jo Brooks, Operations Director at East Cambridgeshire District Council said: “The creation of Michael is just the start of our recycling campaign.

“Schools will receive education packs with a recycling theme and Michael himself will be available for school talks and assemblies.

“Schools will also be able to apply for a recycling accreditation for meeting recycling criteria.”

The competition runs until the end of term and each school will be asked to shortlist five entries for submission. All shortlisted students will receive a small prize.

Shortlisted entries will be collected by the council in the first week of January. Judging will then take place and the winner announced shortly afterwards.