Ranger finds 1975 can of Tizer in Peak District National Park

The ranger who found the can is younger than the can itself. Credit: Peak District National Park

Rangers from the Peak District National Park are urging visitors to take their litter home after finding a discarded can of soft drink dating back more than four decades.

The empty can of Tizer was discovered on Brockett Booth Plantation, above Castleton, in the High Peak district of Derbyshire.

Posting about the find on Facebook, the Peak District National Park said: "Just goes to show how long discarded metal cans last."

And they urged people not to drop rubbish, adding: "Make it a weekend to be #PeakDistrictProud and take your litter home with you."

Tom Marshall, communications manager for the park, said the ranger who found the can was younger than the can itself.

Litter collection costs the park £37,000 a year. Credit: Peak District National Park

'Distress and a source of fire'

He said: "Whilst our social media pages have since been filled with comments of fond memories of this particular soft drink, it's sad to realise the can had already been sat in the Peak District landscape long before our ranger, Anna – who discovered it – was even born.

"Our rangers might not be wearing flares any more, but today our teams still collect around 40 tonnes of rubbish and litter from across our own sites and car parks alone each year, at a cost that could cover an extra ranger to take care of the National Park.

"Litter not only looks rubbish in our countryside, but has the potential to cause distress to wildlife or act as a source of fire too."

Tizer and was launched in 1924 by brothers Fred and Tom Pickup, of Pudsey in Leeds, when it was known as Pickup's Appetizer.

After the death of the Pickup brothers it was owned by the Armour Trust before being sold to the Scottish drinks company A.G. Barr plc for £2.5million in 1972.