THE ‘shocking’ state of litter in parts of Rockwell Green was highlighted this week when Wellington town councillor Marcus Barr embarked on a one-man clean-up mission.

Cllr Barr collected seven large bags of discarded rubbish from an area around The Well in just two hours on one morning.

He told the WWN: “I walk through this area nearly every day, so I see how bad the litter problem is becoming.

“It has been made worse because the Deane council has reduced the street sweeping that used to happen regularly and now the rubbish is simply piling up in some places.

“It is a shocking state of affairs, especially when you consider that local people are still having to pay their council tax for a service which they no longer seem to be getting.”

After raising the issue with fellow town councillors, he decided to show them how much litter was being dropped on the streets and pavements by collecting it himself.

Now, Cllr Barr is calling on the Deane council to play a bigger role in helping to keep Rockwell Green clean and tidy for council taxpayers.

He said: “I have spoken to the Deane council about this and I am hoping they will find a way to help, although I appreciate finances are very limited at the moment.

“Having said that, I do think this is the sort of issue on which we at the town council could do more, for instance, by employing our own staff to do the work for the town.”

Rockwell Green resident Clive Millett, who lives next to The Well, said: “There was always a man who came round every Thursday with a big cart picking up the rubbish but I have not seen him for ages.

“It has definitely got a lot worse, as Cllr Barr says. I see it from my window and I go out and pick it up. I should not have to do it but I do because otherwise it just stays there.”