Motorists urged to put the brakes on car litter

Archived press release

Date Published: 13/07/09

Aylesbury Vale District Council has joined forces with Keep Britain Tidy to put the brakes on littering motorists.

The council is taking part in a hard-hitting national campaign to tackle the problem of drivers chucking rubbish from their vehicles.

The Highways Agency estimates that 700,000 bags of rubbish are collected from motorways and trunk roads every year.

Throwing litter from a car is disgusting and turns our roadsides into a dumping ground for fast food litter, cigarette stubs, drinks cartons and apple cores.

Nearly a quarter of people (23 per cent) admit to dropping litter from their vehicle, according to the latest Keep Britain Tidy research.

A month-long campaign will see posters going up in and around Aylesbury Vale which remind motorists of their responsibilities.

AVDC will be targeting three known car littering hotspots in Aylesbury which will be cleaned prior to the start of the campaign. These areas will then be monitored during the campaign. Any reports of littering from cars made by the public will be followed up by AVDC through the DVLA.

Councillor Kevin McPartland, Cabinet Member for Civic Amenities at AVDC, said: “Whenever we ask residents what they would like to see improved, less litter is always near the top of the list. We live in a lovely area and it’s frustrating that people who drop litter from their vehicles have no regard for the consequence of their actions. If you see litter being dropped in this way, please report it on the Keep Britain Tidy website (www.keepbritaintidy.org). This information will go on a database and used to analyse trends in littering from vehicles.”

Phil Barton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, added: “Dropping litter from a car is disgusting and makes our roadsides look like a dumping ground. We want to encourage motorists and their passengers to take their litter home rather than hurling it on our roads.”