The rubbish welcome for city visitors!

THESE are the piles of rubbish that greet visitors stepping off coaches after arriving in the Welsh capital.

Litter strewn across the road and pavement next to the National Express coach depot in Cardiff is not quite the welcoming sight tourists and visitors would hope for after potentially spending hours on a coach.

Disposable coffee cups, torn black bags and plastic bags could be found strewn across the area in Sophia Gardens on Thursday morning.

A Cardiff council spokesman said: “Public bins in our parks are regularly emptied but during exceptionally busy periods, they can fill very quickly which can pose a challenge to our teams who work very hard particularly during such busy periods of time.

“We would like to ask residents to take additional litter caused by picnics home with them.

“As a city, we are very fortunate to have such beautiful parks for us all to enjoy so please help us ensure that they are kept as attractive as possible.”

The scene is reminiscent of the rubbish left outside Cardiff Castle following Welsh Varsity 2017 last week.

Despite the scene sparking concerns surrounding litter in Cardiff, the mess was cleared up by the next day.

More than £169,000 was raked in from litter and waste related fines in 2016.

The eye-watering amount of cash was collected from hundreds of fines issued for a variety of breaches of the council’s waste policy.

A total of £169,306 was collected between the start of April and early December last year.