Campaigners call for litter blitz on Dorchester grot spots

LITTER black spots are a blight on Dorchester, claim campaigners calling for action to clean up the town.

Bob Kerr of Dorchester Stop the Drop anti-litter group, appealed to Dorchester Town Council and the police to help in their efforts to clean up the county town.

He said he was disappointed that only one councillor, David Barrett, spoke in support of the campaign by Stop the Drop when he addressed the council at its meeting last week.

He was speaking after he and another Stop the Drop volunteer, Alison Kaye, filled eight large bags with litter in just one hour at two locations in Dorchester.

He said: "Please don't say we're litter-free or that we don't have a problem - we do have a problem and it's getting worse.

"Furthermore, it has been found that the presence of litter breeds antisocial behaviour."

Mr Kerr said the litter blackspots remain month after month and disfigure Dorchester.

He added: "Despite the thousands of pounds that have been invested in special standing bins and our own efforts in funding, selling and installing 90 wall mounted cigarette butt bins one can still find thousands of cigarette ends on the pavements outside betting shops, pubs and cafes, not to mention Dorset County Hospital.

"And this despite the fact that one of our members, Felicity McLaren, has over the past year given out more than 1,000 stub tidys to passing smokers."

He urged the police to use existing laws to crackdown on people who drop litter.

At the meeting Inspector Les Fry of Dorchester police said budget limits meant he had to focus on more serious crimes.

The litter-pickers were assisted by Trevor Bevins, director of Dorset CPRE - the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

Mr Bevins said he decided to join in when he saw how much rubbish was visible at the locations near Dorchester South and Dorchester West stations.

He said: "These two places are gateways to the county town and they were littered with unsightly rubbish."