May 8 Letters: Littering laws should apply to utility firms

LITTER is a constant problem that blights our environment. One aspect that is not mentioned is “corporate littering”. Along the mile or so of Micklethwaite Lane/Carr Lane I have counted the following: two traffic-sign boards (one badly damaged, discarded into a field), eight cones, 10 sandbags, nine stone blocks, one shovel and one pair of work gloves.

In the fields beside the lane, as well as odd discarded cones and signs, at various points there are six power-line support poles complete with ironmongery. Below Otley Road, East Morton more of these poles can be seen, together with boulders that have been excavated during their replacement. More cones and sandbags can be seen along Morton Lane.

I spoke to site managers about the damage done to a lane-side banking and part of a phone mast that had been blown into a field; result – nothing done. This debris is the result of four different utility contractors’ work. Some can be blamed upon poorly-trained or badly managed workmen, but the sheer volume of discarded equipment leads me to believe that it may have been discarded deliberately.

I could be prosecuted for discarding litter, isn’t it time the same laws were applied to these companies?