Increasing weekend litter sparks fury

Selfish revellers have been blasted for leaving Wigan town centre an eyesore mess the morning after the night before.
Litter at Wigan WallgateLitter at Wigan Wallgate
Litter at Wigan Wallgate

Private chauffeur Dave Ward says he is sick of seeing the areas around King Street being treated like a rubbish dump, especially by those discarding their takeaway litter on the ground.

He was passing through town on Sunday morning at 7.40am and took a number of snaps of the mess.

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“It’s an absolute disgrace,” said Dave, who was picking up someone from Wigan Wallgate. “It’s always bad but Sunday morning was one of the worst I’ve seen it so took the photos. One of the bins was overflowing. So even if people are using them, they can’t put their rubbish in so it goes onto the floor.”

Dave doesn’t believe that the resulting clean-up operations carried out by Wigan Council shouldn’t be paid for by the taxpayers. Why should we pay for it?” he asked.

“I think the takeaway owners should front up for it. They are the ones who create the rubbish for people to drop.

“Wigan town centre is turning into a rubbish dump at the weekend.”

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Dave’s concerns were echoed by Wigan-based charity Keep Britain Tidy just a few hundred yards down the road.

A spokesman said: “It is disappointing to see so much rubbish dropped in Wigan town centre at the weekend. People should be able to enjoy their night out without having to step through others’ discarded pizza boxes and burger wrappers. It costs the best part of £1bn a year to keep England’s streets clean, and the street cleansing teams have to work even harder at weekends to ensure that town centres are clean in time for shoppers and workers the following day.

“It is simple: you can enjoy the bars and then a takeaway on your way home, and help to keep the streets clean by using a bin or taking your rubbish home.”

Wigan Council’s Emma Barton has described the clean-up operation each weekend, saying: “Wigan Town centre was recently voted the cleanest town centre in the North West by the Borough In Bloom judges and our teams work hard to make sure our streets are tidy every morning for our daytime visitors after others have enjoyed our popular night-time economy.

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“We have a street cleaning team specifically deployed from 7.30am each morning during weekends who prioritise litter hot spots while also using road an pavement sweepers. This weekend the town centre was particularly busy which could have been a knock-on effect from the Wigan Warriors vs Brisbane Broncos game which took place on Saturday evening.”