New campaign asks Warwickshire residents not to 'be a tosser'

A new campaign has been launched urging residents in Warwickshire not to 'be a tosser'.

Warwickshire County Council and partners at the district and borough councils have launched the poster campaign in response to a sharp increase in littering in the county’s parks and open spaces.

The "don't be a tosser" campaign follows an announcement earlier this month when the council highlighted that there had been a considerable increase in the amount of litter being collected from parks and open spaces every day.

When this was demonstrated to the public several residents asked if the council would consider running a campaign that has been used successfully in New Zealand and elsewhere in the UK.

Given the extent of the littering, and the volume of additional waste, the council agreed.

Cllr Heather Timms, portfolio holder for environment and heritage and culture at Warwickshire County Council, said: “We are fully behind this campaign, and although we appreciate the language used is not in keeping with our usual approach we agree with our colleagues at borough and districts that the issue of littering warrants such a hard-hitting campaign.

"Clearing up litter nationally costs taxpayers almost one billion pounds per year but more importantly we are still amid a global pandemic and there is a significant increased risk of spreading Covid-19 through littering.

"This campaign is aimed at telling the litter louts just what the rest of us think: there are no excuses so take it home."

The posters will be put up in local parks and open spaces by community champions and council staff over the next few weeks and will also feature on social media.