LITTER louts who hurl rubbish out of car windows onto the verge of a main road near Malmesbury have been blasted after tonnes of waste was collected. 

In total more than three tonnes of litter was collected from verges along on the A429 in Malmesbury and in other parts of Wiltshire last week. 

Workers collected 245 bags - around 3.2 tonnes of waste, according to Wiltshire Council.

Community leaders and residents in Malmesbury have condemned the litter louts.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald: Wiltshire Council Wiltshire Council (Image: Wiltshire Council)

Mayor Kim Power said flytipping was 'harmful and a waste of taxpayers money'. 

"We urge people to dispose of their rubbish appropriately," she said. 

“Leaving litter and flytipping is unnecessary, harmful and a waste of taxpayers money when it has to be cleaned up. 

"Wiltshire Council has indicated on social media that this seems to be a Wiltshire-wide issue. 

"We hope there will be a more extensive campaign to help reduce litter dropping. 

"We urge people to dispose of their rubbish appropriately. 

 "As Malmesbury has the A429 running through it - a major link road between Chippenham (M4) and Cirencester and through the Cotswolds as far as Coventry - we have quite a lot of non local traffic passing through and especially lorries, which are of concern in our historic town. 

"We have a few people in Malmesbury who have championed local litter picking, however it would be dangerous for residents to litter pick along a busy link road, such as the A429, and so this has to be left to Wiltshire Council and their operatives.”

Wiltshire councillor for the town Gavin Grant said that people 'really need to take their litter home'. 

"I thank staff and volunteers who give their time to doing this," said Cllr Grant. 

"It's particularly challenging to pick up litter this safely on a busy road like this one without footpaths on both sides in many places. 

"People really do need to take their litter home and commercial drivers must ensure that any loads likely to cause litter are properly covered and secured." 

Malmesbury community litter picker Ben Thornbury was sad to hear so much had been collected.

"People need to be responsible with rubbish and bin it," he said.

"Unfortunately wildlife gets tangled up in this rubbish littered at the roadside. 

"If no rubbish was left on the road, the money involved with this litter picking could be put to good use elsewhere in the community."