Route littered after clean-up job

Litter louts are being blamed for undoing hours of work by council cleaning contractors in the Cotswolds.

Large quantities of newspapers were scattered along the verges of the Cirencester ring road, just days after a litter-picking operation in the area.

"This is the most appalling example of littering I have ever seen," said council leader Lynden Stowe.

"It looked deliberate and if anyone knows who did it we will bring the full force of the law to bear on them."

The council is currently running a Keep The Cotswolds Clean campaign.

It said tossing rubbish out of cars, dropping cigarette butts, discarding gum and dumping waste would not be tolerated.

Council contractors have already this year cleaned up the A429 and the A419, as well as the Cirencester ring road.

They will re-clean the ring road in the next few days following last weekend's littering.