Award-winning volunteer litter pickers who have kept the lay-bys of the A17 clean for years have been banned from using their tyre-stack bins – due to health and safety concerns.
Truck drivers Andy Tilley and Deanne Gough have collected literally thousands of bags of litter along the A17 between Sutton Bridge and Long Sutton over the last five years.
They have won awards for giving up many hours of their time to ensure the lay-bys are kept clear of the piles of rubbish which blight most roadsides.
But now they have been told not to empty or use the bins they created by stacking tyres and putting a bin liner through the centre.
South Holland District Council received a complaint from an un-named source and a risk assessment was conducted as a result.
The conclusion was that the tyre-bins presented a risk when they were being emptied due to the height of the stack and the weight of the bag, and also could be a fire hazard.
District councillor for Long Sutton, Jack Tyrrell said he had supported Andy and Deanne from the start, and pays for their public insurance liability.
“They do a fantastic job and I will always support them.
“We are not banning them from litter picking, but once we receive a complaint we have to look at it,” he said.
Despite there being no incidents in the five years they have been working, the decision was taken to ask the couple to not use the bins.
The council will put its own litter bins in the lay-bys, but probably not to match the six or seven in each that the couple had created and emptied themselves.
Council staff who empty the bins will also not be litter-picking the area as Andy and Deanne have done, but they can still do that and take the rubbish to the Curlew Centre in Sutton Bridge, as they already do, said Coun Tyrrell.
But the move has been met with bewilderment by Deanne who says nobody spoke to them directly about any potential problem.
“We have been doing this for five years with no problems and just don’t understand why they have done this. It’s almost like they’re kicking themselves in the teeth. Why would you not want people to give up their time and effort to make things look better,” said Deanne.
Both litter pickers, who live in Sutton Bridge, are members of a Facebook group called ‘Truckers Cleaning up Britain’ which has 3,500 members across the country.
Deanne said a lot of drivers were doing their best to ensure the environment was being kept as litter-free as possible.
Chairman of Long Sutton Parish Council John Clarey said the decision was nothing to do with the parish, despite reports to the contrary – and he thought the Wombles did a ‘fantastic job.’
“My only concern was that they shouldn’t have to pick-up the rubbish as well,” he said.
The parish had asked for ‘proper’ bins to be installed last year and looked after by the district council, but Coun Clarey said both Long Sutton and Sutton Bridge had been served by both district and county authorities.
Deanne and Andy received a special award just last month from Sutton Bridge Parish Council to acknowledge their hard work and dedication.
They also received a Pride in South Holland Award in 2023, when Deanne said they had already filled more than 5,000 bags of rubbish from the Long Sutton sites.
