National Highways has launched an anti-littering campaign highlighting the work needed to keep its network clean, as it faces a trial over the issue in September.
A preliminary hearing on the case, which alleges that National Highways has failed to keep the A3 southbound slip road clean at Junction 10 of the M25 (pictured), was held at Guildford Magistrates last week.
National Highways' campaign aims to show that it takes littering seriously
Following the hearing, National Highways launched its campaign to discourage littering, with a focus on the potential harm to wildlife.
The campaign is supported by the RSPCA and Keep Britain Tidy and kicks off with a simple plea: ‘Lend a paw – bin your litter’.
National Highways added that as part of a long-term effort to rid the roadsides and motorway service areas of rubbish, it has run a trial using AI-enabled cameras in conjunction with a local authority that is carrying out enforcement.
It has also trialled message signs to reduce motorway littering, used geofencing to send texts to motorists entering laybys where littering is an issue, ‘and will be taking part in the upcoming Great British Spring Clean for the ninth year running’.
Chief executive Nick Harris described littering as ‘a dreadful social problem’. He said: We’re working hard to tackle it on our roads, with our people litter-picking every day.
‘But if people don’t drop litter in the first place it wouldn’t need to be picked up – so we urge road users to take their litter home.’
Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton OBE said: ‘We are pleased to see National Highways launch this long-awaited campaign aimed squarely at getting motorists to do the right thing, bin their rubbish and protect these precious, highly biodiverse areas where so many animals live.’
The new campaign will feature on radio adverts, roadside billboards, posters at motorway service areas and petrol stations, and on social media.
Clean Up Britain (CLUB), which focuses its campaigns on litter and fly-tipping along roadsides, launched the recent legal action against the national road operator under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
CLUB founder John Read accused National Highways of trying to claim it was not responsible for the litter, despite their 'incontrovertible duty to ensure their roads are kept clear of litter'.
The company used the campaign launch to assert that it ‘complies with its duties under the Environmental Protection Act’.
