New signage was used on the A66 at South Bank last Friday, to remind passing motorists that littering not only puts council litter picking operatives at risk, but it is also a criminal offence.
To keep the borough clean and tidy, litter must be collected from along the edges of some very busy roads, making it a difficult and costly operation - which could easily be avoided if everyone were more considerate of the environment.
Robert Hoof, the council's Assistant Director of Environment, said:
“Friday's litter picking work – and all other roadside litter picking work - is a consequence of people not disposing of their rubbish responsibly. Some of it, of course, is blown in from other areas or falls accidentally – but a significant proportion of it is there because of a minority of motorists throwing litter out of their car windows. This careless behaviour results in our teams having to work in areas that are difficult to access, and sometimes require expensive traffic management to carry out the work safely.
“We have many community groups and individuals collecting litter voluntarily in residential, countryside and beach locations – but the area around the highway has to be carried out by the council due to safety considerations. Collecting litter along high-speed roads is inherently difficult; something which must be planned and appropriate safety measures taken. We ask that motorists, please, take care when passing our workers and take all rubbish home or to the nearest bin."
Roadside littering carries a £150 fine if caught. Fines increase the more significant the littering is - in the case of fly tipping, fines of up to £400 can be issued.
Councillor Barry Hunt, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Housing, commented:
“I'd like to say a huge thank you to our staff for the hard work they are doing. Keeping up with the problem of littering is not an easy task. We have some fantastic volunteers across our borough too, and we are so grateful for the work they go out and do. We live in a beautiful place, and it is everybody's responsibility to respect it and keep it that way."
More work for a cleaner borough is ongoing, including a brand-new fleet of street sweepers; new 'Find and Fix' teams; new bins and replacement of broken bins; new litter pickers and branded bin bags for volunteers; street cleansing and a drive on enforcement against littering, fly tipping and dog fouling.