15,000kg of litter collected from Wiltshire roads since September
Clean up teams have covered 1,800 miles of our road network in the process
Nearly 15,000kg of litter has been collected from Wiltshire's roads since September.
It's part of a Wiltshire Council initiative which is aiming to keep the county looking beautiful.
Teams have been conducting daily patrols and litter collections on the rural roads and verges around the county, as well as on the A303 and A36, which are managed by National Highways.
The council has to seek permission from National Highways in order to carry out the work on the A303 and A36, and put measures in place that ensure the safety its workers and minimise disruption to road users, which sometimes requires traffic lights being put in place or lanes being closed.
The council has identified hotspots for litter and is attending those locations more frequently, as well as using extra measures to prevent and catch offenders, such as the use of enforcement cameras.
Local efforts to clean up litter are also being supported by the council, with numerous events taking place on a monthly basis across the county.
Community groups are encouraged to focus on residential areas and open spaces and to report litter found on any main roads, so this can be dealt with by safely and efficiently by our teams.
Cllr Nick Holder, Cabinet Member for Highways and Street Scene, said: "One of our main focuses in our Business Plan is to take responsibility for the environment, and to keep Wiltshire a beautiful county with unspoilt views and landscapes. As well as being unsightly, litter can also be a danger to wildlife and drivers on our road networks. Therefore ensuring our road networks are regularly litter picked is a crucial job for us to complete.
"Our crews work in potentially dangerous conditions when carrying out the roadside collections so these are carefully planned and managed to ensure safety of them and other road users.
"We really appreciate the efforts of our community groups and thank them for all the work that they do to help us, but it's really important that they do so safely, and by not putting themselves at risk, that means not litter picking on main roads.
"Ultimately, I want to remind everyone that if we all dispose of our litter correctly when out and about, or take it home with us, there would be no need for litter collections. Don't Mess with Wiltshire, dispose of your litter correctly."