Mix-up leaves streets strewn with rubbish

lers and empty fast food cartons cast aside by litter louts.”

He added: “Drawing in the crowds to spend money with the retailers is not going to happen all the while the town centre is as appealing as a post-apocalyptic wasteland.”

Ashford Borough Council says the litter was the result of a misunderstanding between refuse collectors, and that

tcollins@thekmgroup.co.uk A town centre looking more like “a post-apocalyptic wasteland” than a shopping precinct was down to an administrative error, according to the council.

A number of readers contacted the Kentish Express to complain about the litter to be found covering the Lower High Street on Sunday, July 6.

Marion Gadsby, 60, Beaver Lane from said: “There was rubbish everywhere. People picked their way through it but no one from the shops made any attempt to clear the mess up in the hour that I was there.

“All the bins were full and overflowing. No wonder people do not want to shop in our town.”

Paul Taunton added: “Litter was strewn from one end to the other, caused by bins being emptied by the previous night’s alcohol-fuelled revel- the situation won’t be repeated.

A spokesman added: “We are aware that there was excess litter in the lower High Street on Sunday, July 6. This was due to a misunderstanding of the cleansing route by a new member of staff, who was covering for a colleague.

“The litter was reported to us and was cleared the next day. We do not envisage a repeat of this problem.”

Rubbish was strewn across the high street in Ashford on Sunday, July 7