Don’t “Drive and Drop” Urges Ribble Valley Councillor After Clean-Up Operation

Ribble Valley councillor Stuart Hirst praised the hard work of the borough council’s clean-up teams after weeks of litter-picking along stretches of the A59 collected around 500 kilograms of rubbish.

Councillor Hirst, chair of the council’s community services committee, said: “Most motorists and their passengers using the A59 are fine. Unfortunately, there is a significant minority that mindlessly throw litter from their vehicle and use the road and its verges instead of a rubbish bin.

“Thousands of people drive along the A59 every day and if they see rubbish strewn along the road it creates the wrong impression of our borough.

“This isn’t just a Ribble Valley issue; it’s a nationwide problem.”

Over the past couple of months Ribble Valley Council clean up teams have been working along stretches of the A59 where it’s safe to do so. They collected dozens of black bin bags full of rubbish every time they went out.

Unfortunately, some sections of the road couldn’t be cleaned as they were too dangerous for workers without using costly temporary lane closures that effect traffic flows.

“Every time our team go out and clean up other people’s rubbish, along what is a busy and fast road, they are putting themselves in danger,” added Coun. Hirst. “We take our responsibility to keeping our staff safe extremely seriously; if only people took their responsibilities as seriously and took their rubbish home we wouldn’t need to be doing this.

The work is the result of a partnership approach between the borough council and Lancashire County Council, which is the highway authority.

Although Ribble Valley Council isn’t responsible for highways, for many years it has picked up litter from main and country roads, as well as in towns and villages across the borough. The council also provides support for community clean ups by supplying equipment and collecting bags of rubbish.