Litter branded a 'disgrace' after a tonne of rubbish cleaned up

More than a tonne of litter has been removed from roads in Hamilton by South Lanarkshire Council in a bid to make the area clean.

The local authority carried out a week-long clean-up of five rural roads in the area, and a total of 1.2 tonnes of rubbish was picked up across more than ten miles of road.

The clean-up, which included installing temporary road restrictions, cost the council £9700.

Councillor John Anderson, chair of the community and enterprise resources committee, said the amount of rubbish made him “angry”.

He added: “Every penny and hour spent doing this is money and time lost to the council and its communities, all because a selfish few don’t think the rules apply to them.

“There is simply no excuse for this type of selfish and irresponsible behaviour which blights our environment and requires so much time, energy, and money to clean up.

“I’m particularly angry at the throwaway culture that seems to be so prevalent by many who drive our rural roads.

“So much of what was collected was bottles, cans or food containers, and wrappers, all of which can be disposed of easily, and in the majority of cases, recycled.

“What a disgrace that so many want to treat their town and environment like a glorified waste bin.

“I want to say sorry to all of those who were inconvenienced by the restrictions caused during the clean-up and thank them for their patience for what should be an unnecessary task.”

Another clean-up is scheduled for March.