Volunteer litter-picker highlights scale of rubbish, including bottles of urine, in Lockerbie
Marjatta Wildwood wants companies held to account for the mess drivers leave behind
A volunteer litter-picker from Lockerbie is highlighting the scale of the issue on the region's roadsides, as she calls for more facilities for lorry drivers.
Marjatta Wildwood organises the Lockerbie Wombles and Warriors Clean-up group.
They recently carried out a roadside litter-pick by the B7076, and Marjatta was taken aback by the levels of rubbish they collected: “We were cleaning up opposite where there used to be a truck stop, which just recently closed.
“We collected about 20-plus big bags of rubbish and 310 bottles of urine…pee.”
Lockerbie Lorry Park closed down in October 2022, with drivers telling Greatest Hits Radio News at the time that it left them facing long stretches on the road without anywhere safe to stop, for a rest or for the night.
Marjatta says there is no doubt in her mind the closure is also impacting the levels of rubbish, particularly bottles of urine, which are being left at the roadside: “We cleaned the same area before the lorry park closed, at around the same kind of time of the year, and there were 136 pee bottles. So within that time the number of pee bottles has more than doubled, which is a bit shocking.”
Issue needs to be tackled at a government level
Marjatta thinks drivers, and the companies employing them, need to be held more accountable for the rubbish they leave behind, but she also tells us there needs to be legislation to ensure those companies are providing drivers with the facilities they need: “They need to provide decent toilets and decent bins, which are easily accessible, for the drivers.
“I can only see that it has to come from government regulations, because the goodwill doesn’t seem to be there from the companies.”
A Road Haulage Association spokesperson told Greatest Hits Radio News: “People leaving mess behind is deeply unpleasant and we always urge drivers to take their waste away and dispose of it safely.
“There’s a chronic lack of safe and secure parking facilities for lorry drivers. They’re restricted by law on the time they can spend behind the wheel and will often have nowhere to go once their shift is over.
“Thousands every night are forced to sleep in laybys, industrial estates, and residential areas without access to toilets, showers, and hot food – they deserve better than that.
“We urge the Scottish Government to accelerate an audit of lorry parking spaces and work with industry to address these issues.”
Transport Scotland considering report on roadside facilities
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: ““Recommendation 36 of the second Strategy Transport Projects Review (STPR2) recommends a detailed national audit and review of support for lorry parks to address barriers hampering their development, consider their financial stability and develop adequate standards.
“This would include consultation with the freight industry, representative bodies, local authorities, and other stakeholders to collect views on the provision of lorry parks including where and what type of facilities are required and the potential demand for alternative fuel provision zero emission vehicles.
“The STPR2 final report was published on the 8 December 2022, and consideration is now being given to how this recommendation is taken forward.”