'We want green and beautiful but then we trash it'

Leaving litter at beauty spots after visiting to enjoy the hot weather has been branded "appalling" by a volunteer picker as others hit out against the habit.

The recent heatwave has seen the public flock to numerous sites to make the most of the temperatures but have departed leaving various amounts of debris.

Wolverhampton councillor Sohail Khan said there was litter "carnage" at Tettenhall Pool after the Bank Holiday weekend. In Shropshire the National Trust thanked volunteers for clearing a litter-strewn Carding Mill Valley.

Worcestershire volunteer litter picker Carol Ludwig said people visited lovely places while carrying items so "why can't they take them back"?

Ludwig, who started picking rubbish about 11 years ago after moving to Tenbury Wells, said to not do so was disrespectful.

"It's appalling what's happening," she said.

"It's hard to know what the solution is.... it might get to the point that volunteers are so demoralised that they don't want to do it any more."

Tettenhall Pool was "a fantastic facility for everyone to enjoy", Khan said, but the amount of rubbish left recently was "unacceptable" and jeopardised the future use of the facility.

Parking restrictions in the area were also ignored over the weekend - with roads blocked and driveways obstructed. Enforcement officers were subjected to abuse, Khan said.

The National Trust has urged people to be more considerate after food packaging, bottles and dog waste bags were left behind when an "exceptionally high number" of people visited Carding Mill Valley over the weekend.

Shropshire Young Farmers were among the groups that came to help clear and bag up the rubbish.

Helen Bingham from Keep Britain Tidy said people visited nice places because they are "clean, green and beautiful, but then we trash them and walk away".

"That is so sad and so easy, individually and collectively, to do something about it."

Bingham added there was no excuse for people to leave rubbish anywhere, even if there was a lack of bins.

"If we take something to a place.. then just take it home. You managed to carry it there... it's really simple," she stated, echoing Ludwig's concern.

Ludwig suggested having park wardens in public spaces who could issue on-the-spot fines to people.

Educating in schools had helped have an effect on younger children but people aged in their late teens and 20s seemed to be the ones at fault and needed to improve their behaviour, she said.

Over the weekend in Tenbury Wells and by the River Severn there had not been lots of litter left, she added, saying that it was "looking pretty good" which she appreciated.

Taking an overview, Bingham said people's "pattern of consumption" had changed massively in the last three or four decades with people consuming more on the go and more plastic packaging, however, there was a drop in the number of cigarette butts but now more vape litter.

Plastic bag litter had dropped since the 5p single bag use levy came into effect in England in 2015, she said, but "there was always something else".

"[But] you've got to have hope and you've got to believe that if you keep banging on this message, that people will get it."

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