A COMMUNITY-spirited Dorchester resident has called on Dorset Council to make litter clearing a priority - claiming Dorchester's main routes and gateways are regularly strewn with rubbish.

Paul Tuson, a regular litter picker and walker in the area describes the situation as ‘very depressing’ - and said there seemed to be a real lack of pride and passion in the area.

Mr Tuson said: “I am a regular walker around Dorchester, and I am getting so frustrated with the volume of litter that I see!

“I walk various routes to Dorchester however I am gutted with the amounts of litter I see on our roadside, hedgerows, all types of litter, glass bottles, plastic bottles, crisp packets, sweet wrapping, cigarettes boxes, fag ends, paper, fast food takeaway containers, bits of plastic, metal, clothing, mattresses and larger fly tip items.

“Walking along the B3150 its very noticeable the vast amounts of litter seen at the sides of the road, it appeared the council have made some efforts but only as far as the turning to the piddle valley route.

“I do not understand why the persons in charge do not appear to be bothered about the mess of litter, there appears to be no pride and passion about our famous market town and surroundings, it is dreadful that main routes to Dorchester are often strewn with litter. What message does this show to holidaymakers and visitors to the town?

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“The priority of litter control appears very low, and this is what needs to change as I have noticed that when litter is left more and more arrives, whilst cleared areas tend not to attract so much litter.”

Dorset Council, which manages highways and walkways in Dorset, have cleaning operatives out each day - but admit cleaning roads with national speed limits is difficult.

Mike Moon, Head of Waste Operations at Dorset Council, said: “Our hard-working street cleaning operatives are out every day picking litter, trying to keep our communities tidy, and certainly take pride in what they do.

“However, we often receive complaints this time of year as any roadside litter is particularly visible and we haven’t begun our usual programme of verge-side litter picking. We will review the areas in question and have recently picked along the footpath.

“Most of the B3150 London Road & Stinsford Hill has a national speed limit. This means we need to follow Highway Regulations when litter picking to ensure suitable traffic management is in place, which takes time as we need to book road space etc. and is usually labour intensive.

“We’d like to remind people that if you leave rubbish behind, you could face a fine. Those who witness others littering should report incidents via our website, which also allows for evidence such as dashcam footage to be uploaded.

“While we share the letter writer’s frustrations, we’d politely suggest the real lack of pride and passion comes from those few who feel it is acceptable to drop litter rather than use a bin.

“If everyone took their litter home with them, our environment would be tidier, and we could spend more money, time and resources on essential council services.”

Councillor and Mayor of Dorchester, Gareth Jones, said: "Litter in Dorchester has been an issue since before I became a Councillor. There are regular campaigns and projects by organisations, groups and individuals to tackle the problem, some through improving litter collection points and services, some through voluntary clean-ups, some through trying to reduce litter before its point of creation, and some through education and awareness.

“However occasional campaigns eventually run their course and we're back to square one.

“Many thanks to all those citizens who like me are spontaneous litter pickers, collecting as they go about the town.

“Wouldn't it be a marvellous community thing, if people generally took their litter home or when out and about each did their own little bit of litter picking driven by their sense of community pride to make a difference together.”

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