A truck driver who litter picks on his breaks is “shocked” at the amount of “filthy” litter he finds in and around service stations and is calling for companies to take action to make our roads cleaner.
Kevin Doherty, who drives up and down the country in his lorry, first started noticing a huge amount of litter dotted around Welcome Breaks in 2019.
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He took it upon himself to tidy up the area, easily filling numerous plastic bags with rubbish. He said the rubbish comes from overflowing bins, as well as discarded waste that surrounds the land around the services.
“There is litter as far as the eye can see,” he said, with some of his findings on his pick including 40-year-old plastic bottles and crisp packets dating back to the 1990s.
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Some of the litter he found between the road and the service station
Kevin Doherty
He said that the litter shows “contempt for the local community and wildlife”, and says that he, as well as many other litter pickers, often find deceased animals as part of their clean-ups.
“They’re drawn to the smell of the liquid and squeeze themselves inside for some food, but get stuck and either suffocate or drown whilst trying to get out,” he told GB News.
“It’s absolutely a countrywide issue,” he said.
He said that he contacted management teams, as well as the CEO, but has been unsatisfied with their response.
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As a “form of protest”, Doherty has been emptying his bin bags of collected litter outside the service stations and taking photos of the waste, before cleaning it back up again
Kevin Doherty
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“They have no interest in cleaning up the wider area,” Doherty claims, despite speaking with managers at the company to flag the persistent issue.
Doherty said that he is often given the same response, that the company takes “litter picking very seriously and litter picks every day”, though he has slammed this as “empty promises”.
“You see these bins overflow first thing in the morning and you know they’ve not been emptied recently. The loss of hygiene in these places is really shocking.”
As a “form of protest”, Doherty has been emptying his bin bags of collected litter outside the service stations and taking photos of the waste, before cleaning it back up again.
The previously overflowing bins at a M40 service station
Kevin Doherty
Now, they have been removed down to 'windy' weather
Kevin Doherty
Earlier this week, the bins at an M40 service station were removed completely, with the “windy weather” being the cause, staff reportedly told Doherty.
The bins had previously been overflowing, with litter strewn all across the ground and surrounding areas, however the lorry driver questioned the need to remove them completely rather than just empty them.
Doherty said he does not understand how a company with profits of £72million cannot afford to keep their sites tidy and keep up “daily housekeeping”.
Welcome Break operates 35 motorway service stations in England, Scotland and Wales.
Welcome Break has been contacted for comment.
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