Stars line-up to combat litter bugs and fly-tippers

"We have taken our eye off the ball a bit when it comes to litter." - Joanna Lumley

Actress and presenter Joanna Lumley absolutely hates litter. “It’s so casual and dreary and it wrecks everything,” she says. “Streets look so much better when there is no litter and it’s a danger to wildlife in the countryside. It’s such an easy thing not to drop litter. We have taken our eye off the ball a bit when it comes to litter.

“A lot of it comes from kids walking home from school eating sweets and fast food and then just discarding the wrappings. Fly-tippers also really annoy me – they just dump stuff and don’t think it is their responsibility. I pick up litter when I see it and I usually have a few empty plastic bags in the back of my car to put the rubbish in.”

Television and radio presenter Liza Tarbuck also says litter is one of her pet hates. “It really annoys me. I don’t get why people think it is OK,” she says. “I go up to people and tell them they’ve dropped something or point out the nearest bin. I just try to make them think about why they dropped it.“

“Sometimes I’ll pick it up and give them a good tut like a mother superior. Friends have told me for years that one day I’ll get punched for it but it hasn’t happened yet – maybe that’s because I’m a girl.”

Oscar winning actress Brie Larson, who has starred in films like Kong: Skull Island and Captain Marvel was so furious at the amount of litter near her Hollywood home she arranged a clean-up and then posted the results on her Instagram account. “Some friends and I managed to collect NINE bags of trash and a frickin tyre in 40 minutes within a 400-foot zone on the beach,” she wrote.

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"Give each child a bag and challenge them to a litter-collecting contest. They're so competitive, my motivational tactics work a treat!" - Kirstie Allsopp

Kirstie Allsopp, who presents Location, Location, Location on Channel Four and her family are regular litter pickers. “At home or on holiday, we regularly go out together to collect rubbish,” she told the Daily Mail.

“We keep a full set of litter grabbers for our walks and regularly clear the verges on the roads leading to our house. Often I'll give each child a bag and challenge them to a litter-collecting contest. They're so competitive, my motivational tactics work a treat!”

Over the years they’ve found everything from a fridge, a microwave and even a deep-fat fryer.

In 2015 Kirstie hit the headlines after taking a photograph of a car whose driver was throwing rubbish out of his window and putting it on Twitter.

"I don’t want my taxes clearing roads of rubbish." - Kirstie Allsopp

"The driver of this car is a tosser #teachersnottossers @KeepBritainTidy," she fumed.

"Call a spade a spade, if you toss litter from a car you are a t****r & how on earth do you think that litter gets collected from busy roads?" she continued.

"I don't want my taxes clearing roads of rubbish.

"Don't be scared to say T****r, Litter Bug doesn't cut it anymore."

"It should be instant dismissal for any member of staff at any company if an employee is identified as a tosser," - Kirstie Allsopp

She had previously said: "Occasionally I’ll see someone throwing something out of a car and I’ll take a picture on my telephone and I’ll upload it on to Twitter and then Keep Britain Tidy can contact the DVLA.”

She told the Daily Mail: “It should be instant dismissal for any member of staff at any company if an employee is identified as a tosser," she says, adding that in her view, the authorities should just go ahead and shut the motorways so the verges can be cleared "and if the haulage companies don't like it, perhaps they'll put pressure on their truck drivers not to throw rubbish out of their windows!"

“I'd like to see a national behaviour change for drivers so it becomes completely unacceptable to dump litter: like not using a seatbelt and not smoking with children in the car.

“We should all accept the rule that we gather up any rubbish that accumulates in the car and take it home or find somewhere for it to be recycled.”