Councillors fear Wiltshire's growing problem of litter could drive tourists away from the county. Now they are calling for the Environment Agency to get tough and are urging residents to help, as SARAH SINGLETON reports.

The scourge of litter is spoiling the unique Wiltshire landscape and endangering the vital tourist industry, according to county council leader Jane Scott.

She said tourists do not have to look far to find litter and the miles of roadside verges and hedgerows are awash with rubbish, much of it thrown from cars.

Plastic bags, crisp packets, plastic bottles and soggy newspapers lie abundantly in the verges, or caught in trees and hedges.

The bare end-of-winter landscape shows all too clearly the extent of the problem and Coun Scott fears it is getting worse.

As well as the careless littering of road verges, fly tipping is a continuing problem, with people dumping waste in gateways, green lanes and lay-bys to avoid paying for commercial waste disposal fees, or simply because they cannot be bothered to take their refuse to the household recycling centre.

And North Wiltshire District Council leader Ruth Coleman has admitted the Environment Agency, responsible for prosecuting fly tippers, was slow to act on any information it was given.

"The roads leading into Chippenham especially on the A4 and A350, are worse than I have ever seen before," said Coun Scott, at a meeting of the district council last week. She called for the district council to send out litter pickers along the main roads into the town before the grass began to grow again, leading to litter being shredded and scattered further when verges were mown.

After the meeting she said the litter problem could end up driving tourists away from the area.

"I don't know if people are putting out more or the district council is not picking it up enough," she said.

"To my mind we need to be prepared to spend more money on it.

"We need a tidy environment to live in. People need to feel good about where they live. We also need to educate our children if all they see is rubbish it will encourage them to drop rubbish too and it will go from bad to worse."

Coun Sylvia Doubell said everyone had to take responsibility.

"The litter does not come from Mars," she said. "When we do clear up litter it is there again the next day.

"We have to change the mindset of people so they take responsibility for their own areas. Perhaps the parish councils could consider it."

She also called for ideas on tackling the problem of fly tipping.

Coun Richard Watkins called for figures to be drawn up showing the extent of fly tipping each year from 2001 to the present and the number of prosecutions but Coun Doubell said it was impossible to quantify as they did not have a dedicated fly tipping clean-up team, and rubbish was picked up when a refuse lorry happened to be in the area where there had been a report of fly tipping.

"The difficult thing with prosecutions is that we are not the ones to deal with it we report to the Environment Agency," she said. "The fact remains that there are very few members of the public prepared to give evidence.

"We have looked at putting cameras in litter hot spots but we were informed that we can't do that. If you have them, you have to put up a notice saying cameras are there to catch people. Our hands are tied."

Coun Dick Tonge said fly tipping was a problem at a couple of hot spots near Lacock and reminded members it was agreed the number of incidents should be monitored.

"I want to know if there is anything we can do to the Environment Agency to stiffen their spines on this, to make prosecution more likely," he said.

Coun John Thomson was convinced the problem was worsening.

"We do not need figures to know there has been an increase in many areas," he said.

Coun Coleman said it was a problem everyone wanted to solve in the interests of the district but budget limitations meant litter picking was necessarily limited.

"We have put grant funding into the refuse budget to roll out the wheelie bins and maintain kerbside recycling, and we hope to extend it," she said.

"We have reproached the Environment Agency for being slow to act on information they are given."

Where to dump your rubbish

RESIDENTS of North Wiltshire can take their waste to the household recycling centres, which accept all sorts of waste. They are situated at Stanton St Quintin; Lancaster Road, Bowerhill, Melksham; Mopes Lane, Purton; Compton Bassett; Honeyball, Calne.

Dozens of other centres for cans, bottles and paper are sited across the district.

Bulky waste: North Wiltshire District Council will collect up to five items of bulky waste for £18.50, with a 50 per cent discount for people on benefits. Call (01249) 706352 to book.

Swindon Borough Council has 40 sites where people can take glass, cans, paper, foil, books and textiles. The Barnfield Road site can be used to take bulky waste, as well as recycling furniture, garden waste and electrical goods .

For £5 the council will collect up to three items of household waste. Call (01793) 463463 to arrange a collection.

Kennet District Council operates a bulky refuse collection system, at a cost of £11 for up to four items. Call (01380) 734665 to make a booking.

Kennet also has a household recycling centre at Everleigh and a new centre will open in Devizes at the Hopton Industrial Estate in June or July this year.