Litter mountain is a disgrace ... and we're picking up the £1billion tab
England's litterbugs cost taxpayers more than £1billion a year - enough to build two state-of-the art 1,200 bed hospitals.
Our national litter habit is getting worse, whether it's dropping a cigarette butt on the pavement or hurling takeaway wrappers out of the car window.
A new Keep Britain Tidy survey looked at 7,200 sites across the country, revealing 14 per cent to be at an "unacceptable standard for litter", a four per cent rise on 2014/2015.
If you were gifted £1billion, you would have £1million to spend every week for the next 19 and a bit years of your life ... or you could buy a £895,000 MRI scanner for a different hospital each week and pocket the £105,000 (weekly) change to fund a wildly extravagant lifestyle.
The £1billion-plus is what it costs local authorities like South Holland District Council to clean-up. Ultimately, that cash comes out of our pockets.
Keep Britain Tidy sees littering as a "serious social, economic and environmental issue", which harms communities and wildlife.
In June, we highlighted the plastic and other rubbish thrown into the River Welland in Spalding and the risk posed to wildlife there and in The Wash, an internationally important wildlife habitat.
Bins line both riverbanks.
Yesterday we photographed (above) litter beside a town centre footpath. There are bins less than 30 yards away.
Keep Britain Tidy says the litter top ten is:
* Smoking related items
* Confectionery packs
* Soft drink bottles and cans
* Fast-food related
*Alcoholic drinks bottles and cans
* Packaging
* Snack packs
* Vehicle parts
* Discarded food and drink
* Clothing
Keep Britain Tidy chief executive officer Allison Ogden-Newton said: "In the past few decades we have become a society that consumes on the go, with all the packaging that goes along with it.
"If you buy something - be it a packet of crisps or a bottle of water - you buy the packaging as well and it is your responsibility to dispose of that packaging appropriately by recycling it or putting it in the bin.
"And, if we're not near a bin, we need to keep that rubbish with us until we are. To do otherwise is not only against the law but it is also damaging to our environment."
In April, the Government gave councils the power to increase on-the-spot litter fines (fixed penalty notices) from a maximum of £80 to £150.
Goalposts were also moved to make it easier for councils to impose fines when litter is thrown from a car - instead of having to prove which occupant was responsible, the fine can be handed to the vehicle's registered keeper.
In June, the district council announced it had employed two community wardens following a successful £127,000 bid to the Government's Controlling Migration scheme.
South Holland's community wardens can issue fixed penalty notices up to £75 and five have been handed out since August 3.
Education was part of their initial role, according to council portfolio holder for place Coun Roger Gambba-Jones, who says they were reminding people to put their litter in the bin before moving on to enforcement.
He said: "Let's not forget this - the general public are doing this to themselves, they are doing this to their own environment, they are pooing on their own doorstep every time they drop something."
He says some councils have brought in private companies but the only way private companies make money is by issuing fixed penalty notices.
"They will go out and they will enforce aggressively," he said.
Coun Gambba-Jones says at some point - if it's what the public really want to see - the council may have to decide whether "as a small local authority we are willing to unleash the private sector on local people who, at the end of the day, are from a low-wage economy".
Following the release of Keep Britain Tidy's survey, Coun Gambba-Jones said on Twitter: "Government's answer is to throw their own litter at it, in the form of more worthless powers for local government to enforce using people they don't have."
In the meantime, he says the district council does the best it can with the resources it has.
District councillor Jack McLean helped set up Spotless Spalding, organising volunteer litter picks, and yesterday National Citizen Service volunteers were due to man new litter-pick stations along the riverbank for the first time.
Coun McLean reports litter hot spots to the community wardens but feels it would be wrong to bring in a private company whose aim is to make money and may not distinguish between someone accidentally dropping litter and someone deliberately dropping litter.
He said: "We have got to make sure that we get the ethical part right because we can't just be going out to get money."
Coun Gary Taylor, portfolio holder for communities and facilities, is encouraged now the community wardens have begun issuing fixed penalty notices and understands one was given for spitting in the street.
He said: "Dealing with litter and anti-social behaviour is necessary, as the majority of people want to live in a clean and safe environment. We need to all work together to defeat the minority of lazy and inconsiderate people that blight the lives of others with their actions."
The council urges residents to report littering and anti-social behaviour to the Community Safety and Enforcement team on 01775 761161 or by visiting www.sholland.gov.uk/reportit
* Should the council bring in a private company to tackle our litter problem? Or should we continue as we are? Email our editor: jeremy.ransome@iliffepublishing.co.uk or write to Jeremy Ransome, Spalding Guardian, Priory House, Spalding, Lincs PE11 1AB.
Previously ...
Call for police and council to do more to stop litter being thrown into Welland
Can you spare two minutes to help save Spalding's river?
