It’s disgusting. In one lay-by I found 100 bottles of urine
LITTER WOMBLE GROUPS TELL OF THE ‘SHOCKING’ AMOUNT
IT’S not hard to spot litter around the county - in laybys, parks, gutters and footpaths.
However, “shocking” amounts of litter, some dating back to the 1980s, can be found if you poke just beneath the surface.
Some bits aren’t even that hard to spot - such as strewn lorry tyres and abandoned fridges.
That has been the finding of the Litter Wombles - a group of volunteers who have found about 42,500 bags full of litter from around Leicestershire so far in 2021.
The amount of filth left lying around has meant the group is probably one of the most prolific nationwide when it comes to the amounts of rubbish recovered.
Founding member Scott Gibbins said: “There are about 200 of us in the north and south Leicestershire Litter Wombles groups, going out regularly to pick up litter.
“It’s shocking how much we find. It’s absolutely disgusting.
“A lot of it is hidden in the bushes and trees and you often find things from years ago like old drinks bottles from the 1980s and cans with the old removable ring pull.”
Scott, 53, of Wigston, got involved after seeing another founder member, Bob Lee, in South Wigston Park with just his legs poking out from under a bush and asked him what he was up to.
Since then the Litter Wombles groups around Leicestershire have joined forces to hold litter picks, do education events at schools and also count each and every rubbish bag full of litter they find.
The 42,475 bags full of litter do not include larger, unbaggable items such as lorry tyres, fridges and bits of furniture found dumped around the county.
Recently, Scott decided to tackle one lay-by on the A4304 at Walcote, near Lutterworth.
As with most lay-bys, his haul of litter included a lot of drinks bottles full of urine left by long-haul drivers.
He said: “I went along on my own that time and in a few hours I had hundreds of bags full of litter.
“Another we did on the A5 filled 110 bags. It’s amazing how much you find in the undergrowth and most of it is recyclable.
“There’s everything and anything in lay-bys and in one I found more than 100 bottles of urine. Lorry drivers seem to just stop at lay-bys and empty their cabs of all the litter.
“People should take litter home.” He said he felt the efforts of the Litter Wombles was managing to recover litter faster than people were throwing it away.
Since the North Leicestershire and South Leicestershire groups formed, about 5,000 people have joined the Facebook page and support the efforts and occasionally join the hardcore group of about 200 who do most of the litter-picking.