Today, Clean Up Britain (CLUB), the only national campaign 100% focused on solving Britain’s litter and fly-tipping epidemic, is launching a 10-point ‘Motorway Action Plan’ to clean up England’s filthy, squalid and hyper-littered motorways. This is what we’re proposing:
- That National Highways does what it’s required to do by law: “ensure its roads are kept clear of litter” – as required by Section 89 of the 1990 EPA
- Close motorway lanes/slip-roads to clean up litter (and erect signs saying: ‘Sorry, this lane is closed for x days because of selfish drivers who litter’
- Use motorway gantries to say: ‘Littering is anti-social: We’ll fine litterers’
- Erect cameras at all motorway slip-roads junctions/roundabouts (the worst spots for littering)
- Ensure National Highways’ staff/contractors stop dumping thousands of metal signs, cones and sandbags by the side of roads (which they do)
- Set up a dedicated website for members of the public to report and upload dashcam evidence of drivers littering (www.DashCamEvidence.Org) + Erectlarge signs on the motorway – and in service stations – advertising this facility.
- Start behaving professionally and not issuing ‘financial penalty-free’ contracts, and start checking the (often sub-standard) work of contractors. National Highways admit to not checking the work of any contractors’ at the moment – unbelievable! No private company would behave like that
- National Highways to actively seek the powers from the Secretary of State for Transport for its Traffic Officers to be able to prosecute drivers on motorways who litter.
- Support CLUB’s calls to increase littering fines to £1,000…
- … and for drivers who are convicted of littering, while driving, to have their driving licence endorsed by six penalty points
The amount of litter on motorway is a national disgrace,the amount of old cones metal roads signs old tyres and litter is awful and should be cleaned up,with the amount of roadworks going on and lanes closed it would be ideal to get them cleaned as the section is closed makes sense to get road contractors local council and highway agency to come together and get it sorted 🤬
I regularly travel by coach from Nottingham on the M1, north to Leeds and south to London, the M50 to the M6 north & also many other motorways. The whole length of these highways are full of litter. There is no clear patch of the MI in its complete length from Nottingham to London for instance. It is mostly stuff thrown out of cars and lorries, some of it by the bin bag load and also other items left by contractors. It is absolutely disgusting and it really gets me down seeing it. The visitors to this country must think we are a filthy nation and currently it seems we are. These roads are in a desperate need of a clean up and more cameras and high fines are needed immediately. (Can someone please design a large scale vacuum to suck up the smaller items?!) We need action now, not just words.