Roadside shame of filthy Brits who throw 'tsunami' of litter from car windows
Revolting images have lifted the lid on the "tsunami" of rubbish lazy Brits are throwing from their vehicle windows.
This banking by a roundabout near Watford is just one of thousands of roadsides across Britain which has been festooned with fast food boxes, coffee cups and other litter hurled from passing vehicles.
Pictures of disgusting scenes from across the country's road network were shared by Clean Up Britain founder John Read, who claimed motorway drivers were the "worst offenders" when it comes to slinging rubbish onto roadsides.
In one particularly stomach-churning picture, a footpath by the side of the A3 has been almost blocked by a mound of plastic bottles which will take around 450 years to biodegrade.
The anti-litter campaigner branded the spots "disgusting", adding that authorities policing our roads were also failing to keep them clean.
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This photo shows the mess on the A3 westbound (CleanUpBritain.org / SWNS)One particular roadside spot on the outskirts of Greater Manchester was monitored by John, with images showing a filthy river of litter running alongside the busy junction.
The M58/M6 interchange near Wigan is thought to be one of the worst-blighted areas in the UK for littering, with thousands of motorists passing through each day.
John, 60, said: "We have an enforcement system that is fractured, agencies like National Highways are responsible for keeping our roads safe and clean but they are failing.
"I drive up and down the UK and there is litter everywhere, every single motorway is disgusting it is covered in litter.
Revolting: This section of the M6 has been blighted by litter thrown by lazy motorists (CleanUpBritain.org / SWNS)
John says our roads are lined with a 'tsunami' of rubbish (CleanUpBritain.org / SWNS)"The problem is that National Highways should not have to be litter picking, but due to the litter being there, it is their responsibility to clean it."
He added: "When it comes to litter and fly-tipping it is anarchy, there is no law enforcement in this country.
"The UK is the Wild West, the penalties are ridiculously low which reflects on how our politicians are spineless."
John Read says Britain is fast becoming a 's***hole' with authorities failing to get a grip on its litter problem (CleanUpBritain.org / SWNS)Currently, average fines for people caught littering in public are £65-100, but John said these were still "ridiculously low" and it was time to get tougher on litter louts.
A petition he created to increase littering fines has already been signed by more than 60,000 people.
"We need to see fines increase to £1000 for littering, we need to show some guts but that is lacking in the Government. I drive all over the country, it is a sh*t hole, we are heading towards a third-world country.
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"There are more than 17 million people who admit to littering in Britain which is why the country is so filthy.
"Britain is continuing to degenerate into a tsunami of litter."
Litter and fly-tipping is costing taxpayers millions to clean up every year (CleanUpBritain.org / SWNS)Keep Britain Tidy estimates that around two million pieces of rubbish are dropped every day in the UK, costing taxpayers an annual bill of £1bn for street cleaning.
Data released by the Government last month meanwhile revealed councils in England dealt with 1.13million fly-tipping incidents in 2020/21 - a 16% rise from the year before - with roadsides by far the most common place for criminals to dump rubbish.
But the number of court fines for fly-tippers in the same year more than halved, clawing back just £440k of the £11.6m spent cleaning up the largest loads.
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