WAYS of combating littering are to be re-examined by Cotswold District Council.

The move comes as a response to a motion by Cllr Paul Hodgkinson (Lib Northleach) which asked that the council takes a more proactive approach to littering and was discussed at its Cabinet meeting on March 5.

Councillor Hodgkinson said at the meeting that he was appalled at the amount of litter in the district.

He said: “Much of our district is covered by an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty so you can imagine my revulsion when I see it covered by litter.”

At the meeting several ideas for improving littering were put forward by councillors and discussed such as working with schools to introduce competitions which would raise awareness about littering, and introducing anti littering signs in each area.

Councillors could not agree with Cllr Hodgkinson’ s motion but said a decision on his motion would be deferred to a later meeting in order to assess the ideas put forward at the meeting.

Cotswold District Council’s cabinet member for the environment Sue Coakley (Con, Kempsford, Lechlade) said at the meeting that the council operates both a proactive and reactive program of street and road cleansing in the district.

She explained that a more proactive approach would mean that litter could be left uncleared for longer periods as it would mean scheduled litter picks are put in place.

After the meeting Cllr Coakley asked for more public awareness of ways to combat littering and said that the councils homepage had been amended so that it is easier for residents to report littering.

She said: “Littering is still a concern and we want to make sure that the public are fully aware of our reactive service, as well as reminding them about the lawful means of disposing of their litter. As a result, we have modified our website to simplify the process for reporting littering – including fly tipping - which requires the attention of our clean-up teams. Our homepage now displays a green button marked ‘report littering or fly tipping’ which takes you straight to the relevant webpage for reporting an incident, and enables us to attend to the matter promptly.

To report littering visits the council’s homepage at www.cotswold.gov.uk