The costs of cleaning up Britain’s litter epidemic has risen alarmingly in the past year to reach £858 million, despite a campaign by the former Yorkshire Dales resident, writer Bill Bryson, who is President of Keep Britain Tidy.

This is a rise of almost £100 million in just one year and is of serious concern in rural areas because fly-tipping in the countryside and the desecration of popular beauty spots by litter has become a national disgrace.

Some experts fear that some of the increase in litter is down to the extension of council bin collections to once a fortnight whereas fly tipping has grown enormously since the charges at council tips have soared in the past decade.

Country conservation bodies like the Campaign to Protect Rural England are horrified at the huge increase in clear-up costs.

Says the CPRE’s Samantha Harding:“We’re told we’re living in the age of austerity but the cost of litter has exploded by almost £100 million and shows no signs of slowing down. We need a concerted and sustained public information campaign to educate people about the true costs of littering. We must make littering as unacceptable as vandalism.

“As with healthcare, the cost of prevention is much less than the cost of a cure. We need to stop litter before it happens and you do this with a mixture of information, incentive and provision.

“We need a campaign to make people take notice; financial incentives like bottle deposit schemes and better bin provision to allow people to do the right thing. It’s going to take government and industry to make this work but without action, the costs can only go up.”