Paxman’s tirade at Britain’s ‘depressing’ litter-strewn streets
BRITONS are ‘sick to the back teeth’ with the rising tide of litter, Jeremy Paxman claimed yesterday.
The former Newsnight presenter said the shocking state of the UK’s streets often left him ‘depressed and angry’.
Neighbourhoods have become rubbish dumps and fines have failed to deter litter louts, Paxman said. But he warned that council attempts to stamp out littering by hiring contractors to fine the public will not alone solve the problem.
The famously irritable broadcaster, 65, is a patron of anti-litter group Clean Up Britain and spoke out as a Populus poll revealed that litter puts four in five Britons in a filthy mood. The survey found that 72 per cent believe fines fail to deter litter louts.
‘People are sick to the back teeth of living on what looks increasingly like a rubbish dump. It depresses and angers me,’ said Paxman. ‘It doesn’t mean people who litter are
‘Fines are not enough’
bad. They just don’t think. It’s abundantly clear that the threat of being fined is simply not enough of a deterrent to people who drop litter. The Government needs to put litter higher on their agenda and take decisive action on the shocking state of Britain’s streets and countryside.’
Clean Up Britain, founded by businessman John Read, wants to make dropping litter as socially unacceptable as drink- driving. Paxman warned that an effective national campaign to change the behaviour of those who drop rubbish was ‘the only sustainable solution to Britain’s chronic litter problem’.
The UK has made little progress at tackling litter in the past 12 years, a report to the Commons communities and local government committee found this year.
It said urgent action was needed to tackle the problem, which leaves taxpayers with a £1billion annual clean-up bill. The main problems are chewing gum and cigarette ends, while fast- food litter increased by 20 per cent in a year
Populus conducted its poll for the charity Hubbub, which has been trying new techniques to reduce litter on one of the most rubbishstrewn streets in central London.
The measures on Villiers Street, near Charing Cross, include signs encouraging pedestrians to take pride in their area, using chalk to highlight chewing gum waste and special bins for cigarette butts. The results, being measured by Keep Britain Tidy, have seen a 26 per cent drop in litter in six months.
In many parts of the UK, private contractors have been brought in to issue fixed penalties for littering. One firm, Kingdom, based in St Helens, Merseyside, acts for 32 local authorities.
But the move has been controversial. Josie Appleton, of civil liber- ties group Manifesto Club, said: ‘The number of litter wardens has grown massively particularly in towns and city centres. Often they need to bring in a certain number of fines a day. We get regular complaints of them picking on easy targets and innocent people.’
Last week it was revealed that Merseyside resident David Ellis, 62, had been given a £60 fixed penalty after a bookmark fell out of his hardback. Ann Coleman, a grandmother from Ruthin, North Wales, was given a £75 fixed penalty notice last month when she accidentally dropped a receipt.
Gillian Green, 65, and Peter Marsh, 69, were fined £160 for dropping cherry stones while sitting under a tree in Canterbury, Kent. After they complained, the fine was reduced to £80.