Plea to pick up litter after 29 tonnes of rubbish collected from Wiltshire's roads
Highways England are asking people to look after the area
So far in 2021, Wiltshire Council have picked up 2,215 bags of litter and 22 vehicle tyres from the county's roads.
That's around 29 tonnes of rubbish.
981 of those bags were collected from the side of the A303 and A36.
With many motorists expected to visit the South West for some staycations, Highways England are urging drivers to pick up their litter.
They want to keep the region's roadsides clear and are asking people to 'drop in for a visit, but don't drop your litter'.
Sam Fox, Wiltshire Council's Corporate Director, said:
"Our teams have been doing a fantastic job collecting litter on the Wiltshire highways network over the past 12 weeks, but it's shameful that they have had to collect 2,215 bags and counting.
Much of this litter will have been thrown from moving vehicles, so we'd ask all motorists to please take their litter home and put it in their household bin - not throw it into the countryside, where it can harm the environment and wildlife, and also look unsightly.
We spend more than £2.5m each year picking up litter in Wiltshire. This could have been spent on other projects such as environmental initiatives and improvements to our public rights of way."
Highways England say reducing the amount of roadside litter not only improves the lives of both communities and motorists, but also provides a significant saving to local authorities.
During the pandemic, the company installed a number of bins and signs in laybys across the region, but they are still reporting a "staggering" amount of litter being cleared around their roads.