PEOPLE are being urged to clean up their act in a litter plagued area of Dorchester.

Poundbury resident Margaret Morrissey took photographs of some of the rubbish she discovered in the area around the Thomas Hardye School, Dorchester Sports Centre and Holmead Walk after becoming infuriated with the litter she kept coming across.

The area has already been an area of concern for local litter campaigners, who have carried out clean up operations in the past.

Mrs Morrissey said areas where she encountered rubbish included the area near the entrance to Jubilee Wood by Dorchester Rugby Club as well as along Holmnead Walk and Coburg Road.

Another area was the shortcut through to Maiden Castle Road.

The Dorset Echo covered a previous litter pick in the area by concerned residents but Mrs Morrissey said the coverage and efforts of those involved appears to have little impact on those using the area.

She said: “Despite the article, which raised the issue of litter strewn around this area, which is on the edge of the named roads and looks out onto one of the most beautiful views in the town, the litter is now worse than it has ever been. “It is a disgusting mess – empty packets and bottles strewn everywhere.”

Mrs Morrissey said she would urge local authorities in the town as well as organisations like the school and leisure centre to do all they can to help stop the ‘defacing’ of the town.

She also suggested putting up a CCTV camera in the area with warning signs stating that action will be taken against those who drop litter.

Bob Kerr from the Dorchester Stop the Drop anti-litter campaign said that the problems with litter in the area were a ‘recurring and continuing problem’.

He said: “We see the issue as one in which too many people have become tolerant of litter about our town and no longer report it or consider it unsightly, yet it very much exists to the observant.

“It begs the question: ‘Do the homes of those who drop litter reflect the same lifestyle?’ “Most likely.”