‘Poo patrol’ village litter pickers call for more bins to combat human faeces being dumped in laybys

Paul and Sarah Robinson were helping keep Leadenham tidy, litter picking along Sleaford Road on Sunday as part of a year-long campaign by residents,as the village is affected by being so close to the A17 and A607.

Sarah said: “There was a discarded tyre and a long length of metal banding in the lay-by which I have put to the edge of the lay-by ready for collection by NKDC.

“On the left hand side of the road beyond the Pottergate were four lager bottles and another pile of food, plastic water bottles and used wet wipes.”

The layby between the A17 and A607 is a regular overnight stop by lorry drivers and the pair also came across the unpleasant sight of used underpants and cloths soiled with human faeces flung on the roadside and in the hedgerow.

Hilary Proctor, clerk to Leadenham parish council, is a leader in the litter campaign, organising an environment awareness day last month at the village hall to highlight the issues faced by the village. She said the volunteers would not have to deal with such ‘delights’ discarded in rural verges and laybys if there were enough bins, but needed to know if North Kesteven District Council would provide one or would it be left to the parish council.

She said: “This is undoubtedly a problem which our year of litter picking has revealed. Such discarded matter is not uncommon and seems to be in and around stopover points for lorries.

“I can see the problem from both sides here. The lorry driver has a Tachograph Card in his vehicle, recording the number of hours he/she has driven, which can be checked by police or the Department of Transport at any time. Fines for travelling above the recommended hours are steep and usually charged to the driver.

“So what does he/she do? Risk driving on for another hour or two to possibly reach a proper truckstop (of which there are few) with toilets and showers, thus risking being caught and fined, or stop over in a layby with no toilet facilities whatsoever and thus stay within the law?”

She said it does not make it right that volunteers have to deal with the consequences. More proper facilities for drivers along the route would be ideal but regularly emptied bins in each layby would help.

NKDC said they will explore options for locating a bin in the layby, adding: “We will always seek to take formal action where we can in cases of fly-tipping, and will continue to work with the parish council and volunteers.”