Environmental campaigners call out Lancashire's litter covered motorways
Environmental campaigners have called out drivers for "ruining their country" by littering on a stretch of motorway in Lancashire.
Video footage between the M58/M6 interchange shows scores of rubbish all over the ground next to the carriageway.
Clean up Britain, whose main aim is ‘to find sustainable and effective solutions to Britain’s epidemic of litter and fly-tipping', has called for a national campaign to tackle the issue.
John Read, Founder of the organisation said: "You really have to question the mentality of the British people as to why they are trashing their own country."
They campaign group say that the bodies that are responsible are not doing enough.
Meanwhile, National Highways have made it clear that it is vital drivers do not drop litter.
Head of Customer Journeys, Freda Rashdi, said: “Roadside litter is not just unsightly but it’s a threat to wildlife and the environment and it can also be a safety hazard for drivers, can block drains and picking it up puts road workers at risk.
“Litter collections on our A roads are the responsibility of local authorities and hopefully we can get the message across that litter not only impacts people’s lives but also has a significant economic impact for our councils across the region.”
Litter has also been spotted at the M66 near Bury.
Clean Up Britain say that there needs to be serious policy change to stop the "epidemic of litter" from continuing.
John Read, Founder of the organisation, said: "The body responsible for cleaning up all that litter on the motorways is called National Highways...they're failing in their duty to do what they should be doing.
They have massive budgets...and they are responsible amongst other things for cleaning up the litter on the entire motorway throughout England and they're not just doing that at all.
"Because of that, they are breaking the law, every single day and that's something that Clean Up Britain is trying to highlight and get them to do the job that they're paid to do."
Clean Up Britain is calling for three main changes to curb the UK's litter problem:
Enforcement : every council in England needs to actively enforce the law against littering
Punishment : there needs to be more serious punishment such as fines for littering that are higher than they currently are
Education: the current education on littering is not working, children should be taught from a young age about their civic duties to look after where they live
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