Little Lever has been slammed as "Litter Lever" by one disgusted resident.

Alice More, of Victory Road, Little Lever, says her regular walks around the village are constantly ruined by pockets of litter.

Mrs More said: "Basically the litter problem is disgusting. I often walk around the village and there are pockets of litter all over the place."

One area she singled out for particular criticism was the shopping centre, which she says, is often covered with fast food packaging

She says the problem has worsened since the wooden wastepaper bins were removed.

"I appreciate that there is no easy answer. They were removed because vandals set them on fire but we need something," said Mrs More.

And she also points to park land off Victory Road.

She says that while the council regularly cleans up the park area, land towards the rear of it, near to the play group, is neglected.

"It can't be pleasant for the parents whose children who use the playgroup," she said.

"In fact it must be terrible for them. There are beer cans, bags of rubbish and heaven knows what else is dumped there."

She added: "Little Lever is just one big litter bin. Ultimately, the responsibility lies with the people who drop their litter all over the place.

"But I think if the council had a litter blitz it might improve the situation." She also thinks community groups could tackle the problem.

Jeff Layer, head of environmental management, said that to replace the wooden bins which have been removed with metal bins would be expensive and the environmental department was governed by budgetary restraints.

"We acknowledge that there are problems as a result of the absence of bins and we appeal to people to take their litter home," he said.

"A lack of bins does not give people the right to throw their litter on the ground. A lot of problems would be solved if people would be more socially responsible."

He added that staff from the environmental department would be happy to meet Mrs More and discuss the litter problems.

"We welcome people coming to us and sharing with us the problems faced in their area."

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