Discarded rubbish has created streets of shame across St Albans

Litter on the streets of St Albans (Image: Archant)

Litter hot spots are popping up throughout the district and running down the look of the area.

We have reported on the problems in Park Street, sparking community litter picks. Junk can often be found on the A405 grass verges around the Park Street roundabout and there is a huge pile of dumped rubbish on what used to be a layby on the A414 Hemel Hempstead Road.

Volunteers, who meet at the King Harry crossing, regularly gather in Verulam ward to help tidy up the park and King Harry Lane area.

The hour-long monthly litter picks there are organised by Cllr Jessica Chivers, who was elected last May. The next ones are scheduled for April 16 and May 21 between 10.30am and 11.30am.

Some of the rubbish left in the London Road car park (Image: Archant)

Cllr Chivers said: “Stopping the drop in the first place is really what we want to focus on because tax payers in England are spending more than £700m on street cleansing every year.

“We are not criticising our contractors at all – they can’t possibly keep on top of every incident of littering, if people insist on this moronic behavior of dropping their rubbish. Kids sit and congregate at the top of the park and smash bottles and others chuck stuff from their cars into laybys.”

Keep Britain Tidy recently launched a national anti-littering poster campaign and Cllr Chivers has requested that the posters are put up around St Albans.

A spokesperson for St Albans district council said: “We have regular cleansing cycles and our contractors Amey undertake street cleansing on many roads and verges every day. These are augmented by ad hoc cleansing, where we hear about particular areas requiring extra attention.

“There are areas that have higher incidence of litter. These include areas where cars have to wait to enter roundabouts. Some people use this as an opportunity to throw rubbish from their cars on to the verge.

“The council is working to keep the district spick and span but we do need residents to do their bit. Most people are respectful and do not litter but there are some who do and that spoils things for others.”

She added that road closures were sometimes necessary to pick litter from roads with fast-moving traffic, such as the A414, and these were deep cleansed at least four times a year, with the verges being cleaned more frequently.

* St Albans was found to have the highest average house prices with a typical home costing nearly £400k, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

An average detached home in St Albans will set you back £675k - even topping London where detached houses sell for around £664k.