Northampton litter picking volunteers call on council's controversial litter wardens to venture further out of town

Northampton litter picking volunteer groups are calling on the town's litter wardens to venture further afield into parks and notoriously filthy streets in Northampton.

Buddies of Beckets (BOB) and Northants Litter Wombles have had their say on where they think West Northamptonshire Council's (WNC) litter wardens should focus their efforts.

BOB ran a small poll on Twitter asking the public: 'Do you think the town litter wardens should patrol Northampton parks as well as the town centre?' 19 out of 20 people responded saying they should visit parks.

A BOB spokesperson said: "Over the years we have had problems with littering at parks. I feel these wardens could be better used in parks.

"I think it would be better if WNC had its own council staff who could perhaps liase with the public and build up relationships better, give warnings, and if necessary fine them."

Despite wanting to see them venture further out, BOB were critical of the wardens’ current tactics.

The spokesman said: "I'm all for cleaning up the town but I think their tactics are very full on. They're not good for Northampton, they're not promoting Northampton as a pleasant place to visit because of their tactics.

"They seem to just pick on people who are dropping a cigarette or a small piece of litter as opposed to targeting people who go in the park and leaves lots of bottles and empty food containers, having an illegal BBQ, or even, why can't they deal with dog owners who leave their mess behind? I feel their activities could be better directed.

"They need some further training and re-education about how to deal with people effectively.”

Northants Litter Wombles would also like to see the wardens venture further out and, contrary to BOB's views, think that the current enforcement activity is “absolutely key” to sorting the issue.

Sally Romain chair of Northants Litter Wombles said: "We definitely agree that they need to go further out of the town centre because surrounding streets, for example, Clare Street, are absolutely shocking.

"The litter wardens need to go further out from the town centre area. The bits on the edge of town are just neglected totally. Parks are also often very well serviced by volunteers and are kept reasonably tidy.

"We absolutely believe that enforcement is key in sorting out the litter problem. If a few people get fined they'll think twice about dropping litter.

"We have got to change the culture of people thinking that you can just drop litter anywhere and that someone else will pick it up."

Sally offered her solutions to the problem that blights the county.

She said: "It's a county problem. I've been to Suffolk, Norfolk, Berkshire, Gloucestershire recently and it just seems to be a major problem in Northamptonshire, and I think part of that is because it's a logistics town.

"I think there are a lot of different aspects, enforcement is one thing, education is another, changing people's behaviour and getting the message out there that it's not okay to litter, too. Sometimes you change people's behaviour through enforcement, others through education."

A WNC spokeswoman said: “The litter enforcement patrols are primarily concentrated on the centre of Northampton but the team does work in areas and parks outside the town centre.

"If there are particular concerns about a specific area they are able to carry out patrols to address these concerns and to provide a visible presence in these areas.”