Litterbugs swarm to Patcham (From The Argus)

Litterbugs swarm to Patcham

11:23pm Friday 6th May 2011 in News By Olivia Courtney

The residents of Patcham have expressed grave concern over the excessive amount of litter lining both streets and gardens in their area.

Local man Derek remarked upon how he picked up and disposed of a total of eight cans all within a short walk from his house to the community centre on Tuesday evening.

Fellow resident Judith has pinpointed the end of Vale Avenue, near the A23 Bypass as being particularly badly affected, attributing it largely to people who are not even from the locality.

Judith explains: “People park their cars along this stretch of road because there are no parking restrictions and then they commute to the likes of Crawley or Gatwick for the day."

“They get lifts back and then switch between cars throwing their bottles and cans out of the vehicle windows and onto the surrounding streets and gardens in the process.”

The residents are angered by the daily occurrence of littering and although they are quick to praise the efforts of cityclean and their local road sweeper, they realise that the levels of litter are becoming increasingly more unmanageable.

Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, Brighton and Hove City Council cabinet member for the environment said: “Difficulty in combating this issue arises from the fact that we need to be able to actually catch the people who are littering in the act.”

He added: “Ideally what we would be hoping for is a change in legislation as we would like the council to have the authority to enforce a rule against people littering.”

Anyone who witnesses litter being thrown out of a car window should contact police on 0845 6070999 quoting the relevant registration number plate.