Throwing litter out of your car window is a shameful and anti-social habit. But it’s clearly addictive. More than 1.3 million bits of rubbish are dropped on Britain’s motorways every weekend. That’s over 67 million items a year, according to the Highways Agency.
The game could soon be up for litter louts, though. Tough new rules are about to make it much easier to fine drivers. Soon London councils will only have to catch the offending car’s registration number on CCTV camera and the owner will be forced to cough up a hefty penalty – even if they’re not the actual person who threw the rubbish! But what about the rest of the UK? To see just how bad Britain’s litter crisis really is, Auto Express decided to experience the clean-up operation first hand.
We joined a rubbish collection crew from Colchester Borough Council, Essex, for a morning on the verges. And we were shocked by what we found.
We were destined for what’s known locally as the Avenue of Remembrance – the main road out of town towards the A12, and the most popular route for those heading south of the area.
We deliberately targeted this road because, with no footpath on the southbound side, it was highly unlikely pedestrians would use it. This was confirmed on the day – we didn’t see a soul walking – and it meant we could virtually guarantee every piece of litter was there courtesy of drivers.
We met up with the council’s HotSpot team, Sharon Fulwood and Andrew Pitchford, who respond to calls from the public about where there’s excessive litter. Armed with a mechanical grabber and a roll of bin bags, we set to work – and what a back-breaking job it was!
In a half-mile stretch of road and on only one side of the carriageway, we filled four bags in 90 minutes. The most shocking thing is that this section of road is cleared every two weeks – and on each occasion the same amount of rubbish is collected.
“It’s disgusting what people do and what they throw away,” Sharon complained. “In the past we’ve found dirty nappies, bottles of urine and needles which we presume have been used for drugs.”
During our session, we uncovered every type of rubbish imaginable. Fast food containers, cups, milk cartons, carrier bags and sweet wrappers were all common sights. We even found a wheel trim. “This is the kind of thing we usually pick up,” Sharon explained. “But we will come back in a fortnight and do exactly the same again. The worst bit of the job is when you get people winding down their car or van windows and just deliberately throwing stuff on the ground right in front of you as they pass.”
Andrew had gone up the road in the other direction, and returned to the van we were using as a base with another four bags – and some news. “I’ve found a dead animal in a bag, a folding metal chair anda bit of bumper trim. We’re going to have to take the van to pick up those,” he said.
Every year, it costs more than £500million to pick up litter from the streets of England. And that’s just the roads – not parks or public spaces. At the start of August, the Highways Agency launched a campaign to raise awareness of the problem. Called Bag it and Bin it!, the nationwide initiative saw thousands of special paper bags distributed at motorway service stations.
But while such campaigns are a step in the right direction, enforcement is more likely to change driver habits – and that’s very much on the agenda.
The controversial new weapon in the fight against the litterbugs forms part of the London Local Authorities Act 2007 – and it’s set to make it much simpler for a vehicle’s registered keeper to be prosecuted for littering in the capital, even if they weren’t the actual offender.
All council bosses will need is a car registration number, obtained from staff eyewitness accounts or CCTV. Officers will then contact the DVLA to obtain the name and address of the vehicle’s registered keeper. The car owner can either pass on the details of the guilty party or pay the fine themselves.
Local authorities can already follow this course of action, but a legal loophole currently means that if the driver challenges the accusation, won’t supply the information or simply refuses to comply, the case can collapse.
A council’s best bet for a successful prosecution is CCTV images that show the offender’s face. But when the litter is likely to have been thrown from a moving vehicle, that’s almost impossible – which is why the rules will change later this year.
For now, the Act only targets drivers in London – but one influential group is desperate for the rules to be applied all over the country. The Local Government Authority (LGA) is the umbrella body for UK councils, and its members complain they don’t have the jurisdiction to take action against littering motorists.
They can issue a fine to a driver by using the DVLA database (see our panel on Page 63). But they lack the power to enforce it through a court and pin the crime on the registered keeper if they say they weren’t behind the wheel at the time.
Paul Bettison, chairman of the LGA’s Environment Board, told us: “Councils are already coming under increasing pressure to deal with littering, and some of the legislation is confusing. Registered keepers can be prosecuted for speeding, unless details of an alternative offender are given. So why not for littering?”
Not everyone is happy with the plans. Phil Booth is national co-ordinator of NO2ID, a pressure group that campaigns against ‘the database state’. He told us: “Littering is an offence and it’s horrible that people mess up the environment. But the DVLA database – which isn’t accurate – wasn’t designed for this.
“For the number of people it’s going to catch it’s disproportionate. This is a case of councils issuing bullying fines to motorists who may be totally innocent.”