A street cleaner who clears lay-bys says that he is “fighting a losing battle” as the litter continues to grow whilst motorists shout abuse and chuck waste at him.
The worker, who wishes to remain anonymous, operates in Warwickshire and says he “can’t cope with the amount of litter being thrown out of cars”.
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Speaking to GB News, the cleaner said: “We have completely lost control of the situation.
“The problem is there are more and more housing developments in our area which means more people, more cars and therefore much more litter being thrown from cars.”
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Some of the rubbish is chucked at street cleaners whilst they are tidying up the lay-bys
GB News
He said that the main object he picks up is discarded bottles and cans of alcohol, making him question the safety of the roads, as well as the cleanliness.
And the “filthy” litter is not the only type of unpleasantness he has to face whilst he is at work.
“When we are clearing the litter we also take abuse from motorists and even have had things thrown at us.”
He added: “People tend to look down on us street cleaners but if we weren’t there doing this job it wouldn’t take long before we would all be up to our necks in our own filth.”
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He said that new housing developments in the area are increasing the number of drivers committing the offence
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The street cleaner said cuts have affected the workforce, with less staff and resources available to tackle the lay-bys.
“The trouble is Warwick district council does not put any more resources into cleaning the streets and we can’t cope with the amount of litter being thrown out of cars,” he said.
In November, more than 12 tonnes of litter was collected from a busy road between Coventry and Stratford-upon-Avon.
The litter was recovered from an 18km (11 mile) stretch of the A46, including the central reservation and lay-bys.
Scott Gibbins and the Leicestershire Litter Wombles cleaning up the lay-bysScott Gibbins
A spokesperson from Warwick District Council said that clearing the rubbish was a “wholly unnecessary exercise” when all drivers needed to do was dispose of their waste when they got home.
A volunteer litter picker from Leicestershire told GB News last week that lay-bys are some of the “grimmest places on earth”, where he regularly finds bags and bottles of human waste.
He said that people need to start taking more “pride” in where they live and councils need to apply tougher measures to stamp out the problem at its head.
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