Navy Hero on street patrol

Monday, 20 February 2012

A navy veteran who became sick of louts fouling up his neighbourhood has launched a one-man litter patrol to keep the streets clean. Pensioner Mike Gibson, 86, has resorted to arming himself with a litter-picker after getting fed up with the daily mess on his doorstep.

The retired Lieutenant Commander said regular council clean-ups are scuppered by litter louts with no respect for their surroundings. He has now taken matters into his own hands, bracing the cold to clear up himself.

Mr Gibson said: “It’s like an assault course some days. I have great sympathy for the council – their waste collection people come up and do the job, then they leave and people throw litter around again. It’s an impossible situation.”

Blight

The grandfather, who served as a Royal Navy officer in the Fleet Air Arm, said dumped cardboard, broken bottles and cans had been blighting a bus stop near his home in the Southway area of Plymouth, Devon, for several months. “There is litter all over the place at the bus stop,” he said. “Some days I literally have a trail from where I live - and I can tell by the density of it whether we’ll have a problem at the park or not.

“It’s a total lack of care and consideration. This is not a criticism of the council. It’s a criticism of the public, who scatter the stuff all over the place with no care at all.

“They all go to the shopping centre, buy something to eat and drink and then they scoff it at the bus stop and just discard it there. “They’re always doing it - but you never seem to be able to catch them.” A spokeswoman for Plymouth City Council said: “Our street cleaning crews carry out a regular round in Southway using a combination of mechanical brooms, staff with hand broom and barrow, as well as litter picking and emptying bins. We also respond to reports of fly tipping.”

Councillor Ted Fry said: “The state of some buildings can really have a damaging impact on the people who live nearby. It can be depressing and disheartening for them to walk past them every day. “We try to look at informal ways of resolving these issues, but will resort to legal powers if necessary.”