Litter thrown from cars branded 'disgrace' amid calls for extra rubbish picks in Northumberland
Residents and visitors to Northumberland who throw litter from cars have been labelled a “disgrace”.
A leading councillor said a shocking amount of rubbish was regularly picked from key routes such as the Spine Road by council officers.
It comes after a Green Party councillor called for more litter picks on the A68 in the Humshaugh ward.
The council operated an additional litter picking service on the county’s “fast roads” this year, but that initiative has now ended.
Cllr Antonia Azócar-Bragg, who represents the Humshaugh ward, said: “Please can you remember that the A68 in the Humshaugh ward is particularly bad. This is one of the main roads that was missed by the fast roads litter picking.
“The litter is highly unlikely to pick itself. The fast roads litter picking came to an end without all of the litter on our main road verges being picked.
“The council is responsible for picking litter on most of our county’s road verges. It is important for the health of the environment as well as the visual amenity of residents.
“Does the council intend to pick the litter from the roads that were missed over the remaining two years of the administration?”
The council is responsible for removing litter and detritus from all ‘A’ roads in Northumberland. It removes litter from the verges and central reservations with the aim of doing this at least once a year.
Cabinet member for environment Cllr John Riddle said: “We live in a beautiful county and it saddens us all that people do actually discard litter irresponsibly. We do roads like the Spine Road routinely and it is amazing the tonnage we have to clear on that road.
“It’s an absolute disgrace the way that people treat our beautiful county. If you have any specific areas where you think there’s a need for additional resources, please let me and officers know and we will certainly look at it.
“The fast roads initiative was a one-off introduced by the Conservative administration as an extra last year as an addition to the activity we already undertook.
“We remain committed to tackling roadside litter. In addition to our litter picking activities, we have a public awareness campaign with information on buses, petrol pumps and road signs.”