Litter pickers remove 48 big bags of rubbish - including 40 bottles of urine and soiled nappies - dumped in a layby on the edge of Harborough

Litter pickers have removed an astonishing 48 big bags of rubbish - including 40 bottles of urine - dumped in a layby on the edge of Market Harborough.

Public-spirited Frank Bingley and his wife Karin backed up by a handful of others have carried out the massive clean-up operation at the pull in on the busy A6 at the top of Kettering Road.

The dedicated team of South Leicestershire Litter Wombles were just finishing the intensive exercise when an enormous pile of maize was tipped there while two other mini-flytips have also quickly built up.

“We have been up there attacking all of this waste non stop for the last three or four weeks.

“As you can imagine it’s been very filthy work and we’re pleased to have filled and removed an astounding 48 bags of rubbish altogether,” said Frank, 73, of Market Harborough.

“We have clearly had to wear thick protective gloves because some of this waste is bordering on toxic.

“We’ve been forced to pick up and bag up 40 bottles of urine for a start.

“Lorry drivers pee in the bottles in their cabs, they obviously cannot find a toilet at times.

“I can understand that.

“But why do they then go and chuck these bottles out of their windows?

“For heaven’s sake.

“Hang on to your pee bottles until you get to a motorway services station or what ever and dispose of them properly and responsibly in a bin.

“What ever you do – do not brazenly hurl them out of your trucks in to our beautiful Harborough countryside.

“We’ve also taken away two black bags of soiled nappies buried under a briar.

“How can anyone think it’s OK to throw stinking dirty nappies into bushes?

“We are really pleased to have cleaned up all of the rubbish we’ve come across.

“The A6 is a busy road so it’s been dangerous work at times,” said Frank, who is also an active member of Market Harborough Environment Group.

“But we all need to step up to the plate and clean up our countryside.

“If we just sit at home and do nothing then the outright contamination and pollution of our precious environment just carries on day in day out.

“We have picked up and taken away a lot of bottles, cans, crisp packets, odd shoes, bank notes and a huge amount of plastic as well as dog poo bags.

“That’s another one I cannot get my head around.

“Why do dog walkers do the hard bit by sticking their pet’s dirt in a bag – before just dumping it on the ground rather than binning it or taking it home?

“This practice happens all over Market Harborough and it’s totally unacceptable – it’s completely irresponsible behaviour.

“We were just completing the clean-up when someone came along and piled up a vast quantity of maize here.

“I’ve no idea where it’s come from – but there must be several hundredweight strewn about.

“We’ve also stumbled across two little flytips near the layby we can’t get to so we’ve tipped off the council and asked them to urgently tackle them.”

A Harborough District Council spokesman today said: “This will be removed by the end of the working week.”

He warned that fly-tippers can be fined up to £400.

“Fly-tipping of any kind is not acceptable.

“We would remind people that anyone caught disposing of rubbish illegally can be fined £400 without having to go to court,” said the council spokesman.

“If anyone has any information about this incident please email [email protected]”