WHEN did the constant presence of litter on highway grass verges become acceptable?

Driving along Yorkshire’s motorways, dual carriageways and minor roads, there is a growing build-up of litter (plastic bottles, plastic bags, etc), items thrown out of cars by people who don’t seem to care about the environment.

I drive on the A19 and A64 most weekdays and have contacted City of York Council on occasions to report problem areas. When I inquired about grass verge litter, I was told that the litter is dealt with in grass-cutting season, which I have seen no evidence of over the past few summers. It should be an embarrassment to this country that we are unable to keep roads in and out of our cities free of litter, especially in a tourist city such as York.

We have the resources to address this issue if we used community service more effectively, ie community payback schemes, low-risk prisoners, and people on job seekers’ allowance to work one day a week to clear litter over and above what the council already does. Anyway the grass will soon grow long and hide most of the litter away for another year.

Andrew Weightman, North Duffield, Selby.