Angry villagers set up clean-up squad (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Angry villagers set up clean-up squad

VILLAGERS in Blockley are so angry at drivers and litterbugs who throw rubbish along their lanes that they have formed their own clean-up squads.

Frances Hoskins, who started the anti-rubbish campaign, even had one motorist throw an empty wine bottle out of a car window at her as she was clearing a verge.

"We have about 30 volunteers who pick up littler at least once a year but many of us clear up more often and take the rubbish in bags to Shipston.

"I know other local villages, such as Paxford, do the same."

Mrs Hoskins is furious that the council recently published figures showing it spends £738,000 a year on street cleansing. "We haven't seen much of it here," she pointed out. "Years ago we would have a roadsweeper, but it seems we have to do it ourselves now if we want to take any pride in our village, and put on our rubber gloves and grab big plastic bin bags and wander the lanes to spring-clean.

"This week I have removed from our pretty village green called Churchill Square, half a wheelbarrow, an immense tarpaulin tangled in the bushes, a vast amount of shattered glass close to the children's play area and a very large rotting cat scratching pole, among other general litter such as drink tins, bottles, plastic bottles and empty sweet and crisp packets.

"I then disposed of five large plastic bin bags of litter at the local rubbish tip. The council really should do more for our council tax money."

Mrs Hoskins said her latest "street cleansing" exercise had taken her over three hours with the added expense of driving to the rubbish tip 15 miles away.

"If I charge myself out at about £5 an hour - not including danger money when drivers throw things - this one exercise has cost about £21," she added.

"There are at least a dozen of us undertaking similar work in and around Blockley and if we bring in all the other villages undertaking "street cleansing" themselves, the sums added up should surely give us all a reduction in our council tax."

Councillor Sheila Jeffery, the Cotswold District councillor responsible for the environment, said: "We share residents' concerns regarding litter in the Cotswolds and are aware that at the moment we do appear to be experiencing a problem with increasing amounts of littering.

"We are urgently considering what practical steps we can undertake to clean up some of the problem areas and have already started some limited litter picking on the roadside. The council has also allocated an additional £25,000 from April 2006 to help deal with littering and additional cleaning.

"We are limited in the amount of roadside litter picking that can be done currently as our contractor is, quite rightly, arranging essential training for its staff to ensure that their health and safety is protected when working on very busy roads. More litter picking will take place when training is complete.

"In addition to the extra cleaning resources from April, we will also be preparing a Cleaner Cotswolds Campaign to encourage the wider community to help us to tackle the littering problem."