Picking up the pieces

At times (election times?) you can barely step out of your front door without tripping over a local politician picking up litter. But even if their motives are, shall we say, complex, I still say good on ‘em.

Littering and flytipping are a huge blight on this city and councillors rightly rail against the louts and do their best to see that they are punished.

But we all know the problem is not going to be solved solely through the courts.

Polluting in all its forms – including that by business and industry – must become socially unacceptable.

Education is a big part of the answer and the example set by the environmentally

conscious must become the norm.

All of which makes the city council’s reaction to one-woman litter crusader Victoria Morland particularly disappointing.

Victoria, who lives in Dogsthorpe, was so fed up with the mess near her home she went out and collected six big bags of rubbish. She left them near a green bin and rang the council to ask them to collect it.

To her amazement and annoyance she was told what she had done was flytipping. I’m not even going to mention the city council’s green capital aspiration (You just did – Facts Ed.), but thatis a ludicrous response.

A council spokesman, while claiming it was keen to help residents clean up their neighbourhood, gave the game away by saying: “We would not normally give advice to put it by your refuse bin as the council operates a no side waste policy.”

So where should Victoria and other public-spirited heroes leave any rubbish they have collected?

In her living room? Or perhaps in a neighbour’s garden?

Perhaps they should take it to the Town Hall and councillors could pick it up at their next meeting.

Everybody wins!