Drivers and their passengers who discard their takeaway litter are being urged to take their rubbish home with them.

The area behind the TSB Bank on Whalley New Road, Bastwell is ‘absolutely disgusting and filthy’ said one business owner.

Litter can be seen strewn all over Ash Street which leads on Whalley New Road. In the car park behind TSB there are also two abandoned vehicles and more litter largely made up of takeaway wrapper waste.

It is believed some of this has been caused by drivers eating and then discarding their food in the car park as well as large industrial bins not being closed by food businesses.

Yunus who runs a shop nearby said, “The area is filled with half-eaten takeaways, wrappers and cans.

“I don’t know what the council can do, but there are 10 takeaways within 100 yards, I feel they should take responsibility too. There are no bins (for members of the public) or patrols.

“My main gripe is a drain overflowing with blood stained and sometimes flour stained water into the back alley onto the street.”

He added, “After we sent the pictures on to you the Council have been here sweeping up and it looks a lot cleaner.”

On closer inspection waste bins not being closed were causing the litter to blow into the road.

Councillor Shaukat Hussain who represents Bastwell said volunteers including himself had cleaned this area themselves in the past.

He said: “There seems to be people parking here, eating and discarding their wrappers.

“I would tell everyone if you are eating in a car park then take your rubbish with you. Don’t drop it here.

“We have done a major clean ups in the Ash Street area and in both the car parks. We cut shrubs and picked up a lot of waste earlier this year too.”

Cllr Hussain added, “It also seems the takeaway bins aren’t fully closed and rubbish has been blowing away

“Now that we have been aware of this we will be looking into getting our Environmental team to speak to the food businesses to ensure the bins are shut properly.”