A street in Ewell showed their support for key workers including waste collectors recently amid the ongoing lockdown to combat the spread of coronavirus.

Residents living on Riverhome Drive in Ewell displayed hand-drawn messages of support for key workers who are continuing to work outside and in their places of work despite the prevalence of Covid-19 coronavirus.

In particular, the refuse collectors were saluted in the messages left out by residents on their bins and in their windows who were eager to express their support for these workers' vital contribution.

"There loads of vital work still going on. Someone had the idea putting out thank you notes for the bin men and that was met enthusiastically by everybody on the street.

“I think there’s a realization among us that we all really rely on each other and we tend to take for granted our public services and that behind them are real people doing those jobs," resident Stuart Radcox, 49, told the Comet.

"For people to carry on doing those jobs at this time is absolutely amazing," he added.

In scenes repeated across the borough and around the UK, the residents of Riverhome Drive responded to the arrival of a global pandemic to their area with acts of solidarity and support.

Indeed, the residents of this particular Ewell street were eager to join together, albeit remotely, before the coronavirus lockdown was imposed by the government.

Resident Kate Herbert described: "We set up a Whatsapp group that now has almost every household in the street and it's great for morale and helping each other out — people have organised fetching shopping for others, collecting prescriptions, arranging veg box deliveries," Kate said.

"We’ve also done things to keep people’s spirits up: Zoom chats, the Thursday night clap for key workers, we also sung happy birthday to a little girl who has just turned 4 but had to cancel her birthday party."

The street's efforts meanwhile won praise from the borough's leadership on Epsom and Ewell Borough Council (EEBC).

On Monday (April 6), Councillor Neil Dallen, chairman of the Environment and Safe Communities Committee and former mayor, said:

"These messages have provided our hard working staff with a real boost. The team are doing a fantastic job, keeping weekly household waste and recycling collections running for residents.

"This is being noticed and appreciated, and residents are getting creative to say 'Thank You'.

"The notes are being saved and displayed at our waste and recycling depot, ensuring that everyone can see them."