Anger at state of verge on Eye Bypass as video shows piles of rubbish on side of the road

Councillors have spoken of their anger after a video posted on social media showed the amount of litter left on grass verges by the side of the road.

The video, posted on Twitter by @eyepeterborough showed fast food cartons and other rubbish thrown onto grass on the edge of the A47 Eye Bypass.

The tweet said “At what point did society progress to the point that that an open vehicle window became a litter bin! Take it home and bin it.”

‘Most unsavoury habit’

After seeing the tweet, Eye, Thorney and Newborough councillor Steve Allen said funding was in place to clear the waste: “The Eye Bypass along with many roadsides in the and around the area are plagued by litter - primarily rubbish discarded from moving vehicles.

“This is a most unsavoury anti-social habit that local authorities everywhere find challenging to keep on top of.

“The proliferation of fast-food outlets combined with packaging for snacks and consumables are the root causes, driven by the attitude of so many members of the public that somebody else will pick up their detritus and debris.

“Its shortly time for the Keep Britain Tidy Annual Spring Clean and many Ward Councillors will be arranging litter picks in their communities, including Eye and Newborough.

“Unfortunately, the verges of many A roads, including Eye Bypass and our Parkways are somewhat restricted by the need for lane closures in order to execute litter picking, and the Highways Authority advise strongly against volunteer action in these locations.

“Peterborough City Council have just announced a Spring Clean will be reintroduced this year, and it is hoped that will be able to include clearing of the verges of some of the Parkways around our City, including Eye By Pass.”

"I would love to know why people think it’s acceptable to litter in the first place”

Fellow ward councillor Nigel Simons added: “It (littering) makes me very angry.

“Although we litter pick these areas twice a year presently it is obvious it’s not enough.

“At full council last night, we announced reintroduction of the spring clean budget. Some of this will be used to litter pick this area.

“We have funding for 5 waste education officers, although this requires approval of full council.

“It’s important to get the message for residents not to litter in the first place.

“I would love to know why people think it’s acceptable to litter in the first place.”

A spokesperson for Peterborough City Council said: “We are aware of this litter, to cleanse the high speed road network requires traffic management to be in place and we are currently working to book road space for the coming season for both litter clearance and grass cutting. We will work with partners to try to resolve this issue.

“We are fully committed to tackling fly-tipping which is a blight on our city and something we take extremely seriously. Fly-tipping can be reported either online at: https://report.peterborough.gov.uk/ or by calling 01733 747474.”