Eco cyclists who has travelled the world describes Dumfriesshire road litter as worst he's ever seen

An eco cyclist who has travelled the world described road litter in Dumfriesshire as the worst he has ever seen.

Martin Hutchinson branded the B7076 in Annandale an eyesore due to the amount of rubbish, including dozens of urine filled bottles, left by the roadside.

Mr Hutchinson has cycled 36,000km throughout several countries and is constantly horrified at the state of the environment.

He said: “The amount of rubbish on the B7076 is beyond belief. This is one of the worst I have seen around the world.

“I deliver talks highlighting the importance of taking care of the planet to school and other groups and have been doing this for 16 years since I retired and living on my savings.

“But we need to do more to save the planet.

“It cannot be left to little old ladies like Wombles on little pick ups.

“For instance I spoke to Dumfries and Galloway Council and all they did was listen. That was it.

He added: “I heard they didn’t even have a proper rota to pick up bins at Easter time and that didn’t surprise me one little bit to be honest.

“Bins needed to be emptied more often at houses and at laybys. That is half the problem.

“But they should because you see the problem coming in to Lockerbie and coming into Scotland with the mess at the side of the roads.

“When people come on holiday they expect to see a nice place – they don’t want to see rubbish strewn all over the place.

“Every layby is overflowing with rubbish and that’s where I would say a good percentage of the rubbish is coming from.

“It will certainly put tourists off coming back here that’s for sure when they see a dirty place covered with rubbish and the disease it can bring.”

A council spokesman said: “Dumfries and Galloway Council is pro-actively engaging with communities across our region to collect litter. Part of this work has taken place through 240 litter picking events during the Spring Clean Scotland campaign that ran from 17 March to 17 April.

“The impact of lifting a significant number of bags over the four week campaign has had a great impact on the nature, environment, and look of our region.

"Council services will continue to work together with individuals and community groups to remove litter while ensuring information and education is provided to prevent littering.”