A Cotswold Water Park manager addressed people who left waste strewn across the countryside yesterday as “scum”, and told them not to return to the reserve.
This morning, two rangers and a volunteer were at beauty spot Neigh Bridge, which is less than a mile over the Wiltshire border in Somerford Keynes, cleaning up masses of rubbish left at the site on Thursday as temperatures soared to over 30 degrees celsius.
Dozens of bin bags full of litter has been picked in the area, some of which is said to have contained drug paraphernalia, soiled nappies, toilet roll, underwear, rotting meat, broken glass, nitrous canisters, inflatables and disposable barbeques.
Operations manager Ben Welbourn also said many motorists had parked dangerously on verges nearby because “they don’t want to contribute £1 to the upkeep of the site” by using their car park.
He said the motorists were “blocking the public footpath and preventing emergency vehicles from getting past”, but the local council said the matter was one for the police.
“If you were in the Cotswold Water Park yesterday and contributed to this mess then you are scum”, he commented. Adding: “Don’t come back.”
“I should add that this is just one small site within the Cotswold Water Park. Many others are suffering the same fate. Where’s our multi-agency response?”
