Litter on the majority of A roads in the region is the responsibility of local authorities to clear, but in order that it can be collected safely Highways England often teams up with councils to co-ordinate any necessary closures.

Reducing the amount of roadside litter not only improves the lives of both communities and motorists, but also provides a significant saving to local authorities in terms of time and money spent on clearing rubbish from the roadsides.

Now Highways England is calling on drivers to do their bit to reduce litter levels following the completion of a big regional effort during the Great British Spring Clean (28 May-13 June).

Chris Regan, South West Head of Service Delivery for Highways England, said:

Littering is a social problem across the country and our priority, working closely with our partners, is to keep our roads safe and well maintained for drivers and neighbouring communities.

Roadside litter is not just unsightly but it’s a threat to wildlife and the environment and it can also be a safety hazard for drivers, can block drains and picking it up puts roadworkers at risk.

Litter collections on our A roads are the responsibility of local authorities and hopefully we can get the message across that litter not only impacts people’s lives but also has a significant economic impact for our councils across the region.

At the onset of the pandemic last year, Highways England funded and delivered a scheme to install bins and signage in a number of laybys on routes across the South West, but local authorities, including smaller funded district and city councils, are still reporting a staggering amount of litter being cleared around their roads.

This year alone on the road network:

• Wiltshire Council has collected 2,215 bags of litter and 22 vehicle tyres (around 29 tonnes of rubbish), including 981 bags from the A36 and A303
• An estimated 20 tonnes of litter, tyres, car bumpers and signage were swept and removed from Cornwall’s trunk roads in a six-week clean-up that started in mid-April.
• Devon authorities spend around £7 million annually keeping the county clean, and the Clean Devon Partnership is working with business and residents to tackle this anti-social habit
• Dorset Council has embraced the Great British Spring Clean with a Litter Free Dorset campaign, including Love Your Verge and Roadside Litter initiatives
• Plymouth City Council has collected over 6 tonnes of waste from verges along the A38 and slip roads – a stretch of just eight miles
• Gloucester City Council picked up just over a tonne of litter from the A40 this spring

Highways England, via its contractors, collected 800 bags of litter from the verges of the A30 and A35 in East Devon and Dorset during the Great British Spring Clean.

And over the last month, Highways England has also swept up sackfuls of litter from its motorways in the South West – 300 bags along the M4 and 200 bags from the M5.

Mr Regan added:

As pandemic restrictions are eased, we appreciate a lot of people will be heading to our beautiful part of the world – and our advice to drivers is clear: don’t drop litter. Please use any bins provided in laybys, heed the signage, and keep a bag in your car to store litter until you can dispose of it responsibly.

Sam Fox, Wiltshire Council’s Corporate Director, Place, said:

Our teams have been doing a fantastic job collecting litter on the Wiltshire highways network over the past 12 weeks, but it’s shameful that they have had to collect 2,215 bags and counting.

Much of this litter will have been thrown from moving vehicles, so we’d ask all motorists to please take their litter home and put it in their household bin – not throw it into the countryside, where it can harm the environment and wildlife, and also look unsightly.

We spend more than £2.5m each year picking up litter in Wiltshire. This could have been spent on other projects such as environmental initiatives and improvements to our public rights of way.

And Carol Mould, portfolio holder for Neighbourhoods at Cornwall Council, said:

Cornwall is a beautiful county and we want to keep it that way. There is no excuse for throwing litter on the side of the road, not only does it cost a lot of money to clean up, it can also pose a danger to other road users and can harm wildlife.

Please dispose of your rubbish responsibly and help keep Cornwall clean.

Cllr Lyn Daniel, West Devon Borough Council’s Lead Member for Natural Environment said:

Litter dumped at the side of the road or thrown from cars along the A30 spoils our beautiful countryside and clearing it up is an expensive and potentially dangerous process for our team. Please, if you’re driving to or through West Devon, don’t litter.

Councillor Maddi Bridgeman, Plymouth City Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene, added:

A really disappointing amount of rubbish finds its way onto verges along the A38 and there’s no doubt that much of this is thrown from vehicle windows.

Clearing rubbish from such a busy road is a challenging task and every time our crews have to go out, staff and money are diverted from other cleansing works.

It’s a crime to dump rubbish, wherever you are. We urge motorists to store their rubbish securely until they get home and ask that anyone witnessing littering reports it to us, with dash-cam footage if they have it, so that we can investigate.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

People who use Co-codamol 30/500 Effervescent Tablets, widely used for pain relief, are today being asked to check the batch number on the labels of packs to ensure they are not one of 4,464 packs which are being recalled due to safety concerns. This advice follows a Class 1 National Patient Safety Alert that has been issued.

Manufacturer, Zentiva Pharma UK Limited informed the MHRA that packs of Co-codamol 30/500 Effervescent Tablets with Batch Number 1K10121 have been found to potentially have too little of the active ingredients (codeine phosphate and paracetamol) in them which may mean that the medicine does not work as it should do, and some tablets may also contain too much of the active ingredients and therefore potentially result in overdose.

General symptoms of opioid toxicity include coma, confusion, somnolence, shallow breathing, small pupils, nausea, vomiting, constipation and lack of appetite. In severe cases this may include symptoms of circulatory and respiratory depression, which may be life-threatening and can be fatal.

Symptoms of paracetamol overdosage in the first 24 hours are pallor, nausea, vomiting, anorexia and abdominal pain. Liver damage may become apparent 12 to 48 hours after ingestion. Abnormalities of glucose metabolism and metabolic acidosis may occur. In severe poisoning, renal failure may progress to encephalopathy, gastrointestinal bleeding, coma and death.

If patients have packs which match the label details below, they are advised to return them to their pharmacy for a replacement immediately. Patients should not use any tablets from these packs.

We are advising healthcare professionals to stop supplying the affected batch immediately, quarantine all remaining stock and return it to their supplier or the Marketing Authorisation Holder Zentiva Pharma UK Ltd.

MHRA Chief Quality and Access officer, Dr Samantha Atkinson, said:

Patient safety is always our priority. It is vitally important that people urgently check their packs of Zentiva Pharma UK Ltd Co-codamol 30/500 Effervescent Tablets and if the batch number corresponds to 1K10121, they should stop using them and return them to their pharmacy for a replacement immediately.

We are advising people not to take any tablets from these packs given the potential risks of doing so. Healthcare professionals should check their stocks and recall tablets from this batch urgently.

If anyone is concerned then please speak to your healthcare professional and report any adverse reactions via the Yellow Card scheme.

The batch number details are below:

• Co-codamol 30/500 Effervescent Tablets
• Company Name: Zentiva Pharma UK Ltd
• PL 17780/0046
• Batch Number: 1K10121
• Expiry Date: December 2023
• Pack Size: 100 tablets
• Batch Size: 4464 packs
• First Distributed: 05 March 2021

Notes to editors:

• Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the UK by ensuring they work and are acceptably safe. All our work is underpinned by robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits justify any risks.

• MHRA is a centre of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency which also includes the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) and the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.

• Co-codamol 30/500 Effervescent Tablets contain 30mg codeine phosphate hemihydrate and 500mg paracetamol and are prescribed for the relief of severe pain which is not considered to be relieved by other analgesics such as paracetamol or ibuprofen alone.

To be used around Royal Naval bases in the UK and British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, the five-year contract will deliver 16 patrol craft to the MOD Police and two craft to the GDP, replacing those currently in use.

Based in Liverpool and on the River Mersey, the contract will sustain 50 jobs and create a further 15 across the north west of England.

The police patrol crafts will play an important role in Defence, enhancing capability to safeguard UK and Gibraltar waters and escort major Royal Navy assets in and out of Naval bases at home and overseas.

Defence Minister Baroness Goldie said:

This £36 million investment allows our MOD Police and Gibraltar Defence Police Forces to enhance the vital security service they provide to our military bases at home and overseas.

Designed and constructed by maritime experts in the UK, this contract reaffirms our commitment to invest in homegrown industry knowledge and support the protection and creation of skilled jobs.

Announced by the Prime Minister last November, Defence has received an increase in funding of over £24 billion across the next four years, focussing on the ability to adapt to meet future threats. Reflected by this latest investment, the MOD Police and GDP Forces form a central role in the protection and security of Defence assets and require essential equipment capabilities to fulfil this duty.

The 15 metre crafts will be able to carry 3 crew members and up to 4 passengers, travelling up to 30 knots. They will be fitted with a CCTV surveillance system, two Marine Jet Power waterjets and reinforced with bullet-proof protection against incoming fire.

As highly manoeuvrable craft, they will also be used for 24/7 policing to protect Defence assets and deter and detect any potential threats. Able to operate in all weather conditions, direct support to the Royal Navy will also include escort, cordons and maritime security capabilities.

MOD Police marine operations support lead, Inspector Brian McArdle said:

The bespoke craft requirement compiled in collaboration with Defence Equipment and Support, will deliver a modern maritime craft enhancing the operational capabilities of the MOD Police.

The craft procurement is part of an ongoing craft replacement project ensuring the MOD Police continues to support MOD and Royal Navy to achieve operational objectives.

The Carrier Strike Group 21, led by the Royal Navy alongside their Dutch and US counterparts, recently visited Gibraltar as part of the deployment and was supported by the GDP who carried out escort and patrol activity.

DE&S Boat Acquisition project manager, Joshua Brooks said:

These craft will ensure the continuity of an important capability for the MOD Police to deter and defend against threats to UK bases and overseas territories.

These craft will provide the MOD police with a modern, fast and effective capability for fulfilling their important role.

The constant waterborne patrol and policing at UK Naval Bases will include HMNB Portsmouth, HMNB Devonport and HMNB Clyde, as well as the Gibraltar Naval Dockyard.

Construction has already started on the design project and the first police patrol craft is expected to be delivered in July 2022.