South Leicestershire litter-picking group demands more action from Asda

A litter-picking group in south Leicestershire has demanded Asda do better after finding bushes thick with rubbish in their Fosse Park store car park.

Scott Gibbins, a member of the South Leicestershire Litter Wombles, went to tackle the rubbish build-up after hearing it was blowing into the brook at the edge of the site.

The state of the car park was so bad, he went back the next week end to clear some more.

Mr Gibbins said he had cleared the area the year before, but the litter was back and worse than ever.

He is calling on Asda, and other big companies, to do more to tackle the waste being dropped on their land.

The volunteer army of Litter Wombles would be happy to help, he said, but businesses then need to commit to keeping the land clear.

“I popped down again a few Sundays ago because my son said it was really bad down by the brook,” he said.

“The amount of rubbish that was just about to go into the water there was shocking and the bushes were thick with litter.

“The litter in the brook might not be on their property, but you know it’s come from their property. I did nine bags in just under and hour, and went back the next week to do another eight.

“What we cleared the year before was back and worse. There was one area where you looked in a bush and you couldn’t see any earth, it was just pure plastic.

“The Wombles were up in arms about it. What we should do is get all the litter and dump it outside their door and say “this is all your rubbish” and have it on show for everyone to see rather than hidden in bushes.

“Just get a load of bags, fill them up and leave them outside their doors. It’s all aluminium cans, plastic bottles, crisp packets, a load of gloves from the garage across the road which is also Asda. We would have to put an army in there to clear it.”

Mr Gibbins wrote to Asda’s customer service department to alert them of the problem.

A spokesperson for the company said the store is aware of the litter problem affecting the entire Fosse Park site and has people picking litter at its store everyday.

The company would be more than happy to work with the Wombles, the spokesperson added. However, Mr Gibbins said he has heard all this before.

“We had the same kind of reply last Easter when I cleared the same small area,” he said. “We’re willing to work with them.

“If they want to get some staff involved, we’d be willing to put up 20 or 30 Wombles and we’ll help them clear it. So long as they promise to maintain it.”

“Their staff member isn’t going to be so bothered about it,” he added, “they’re just going to go out there and do a bag and that’s his bit.

“If you have an army of passionate people in there, we’ll be on our hands and knees, scrabbling around in bushes getting every last bit out.

“We’re proud of what we’re doing, we’re getting Leicestershire clean. But that’s getting, not got, we’re not there yet.

“We will only win the battle against litter in this country if we can get the people and big businesses like Asda involved. That’s the hard bit.”

A spokesperson for Asda said: “We have regular litter picks in place and have taken extensive measures to assist in ensuring that rubbish does not collect near our store.

“We would ask all customers and residents to help us in keeping the area tidy and be considerate by placing litter in the bin.”