SENIOR Thurrock councillors and a representative of Highways England have spoken up after a Thurrock Nub News live report focused on the shocking state of the litter-strewn A13 as it runs through the borough.

Following several approaches from readers who have expressed concern about the state of the 'showcase' road through the borough, editor Neil Speight checked out a part of the road from North Stifford to the Orsett Cock Roundabout – a section of route heading eastbound that is supposed to be maintained and cleaned by both Highways England, who have responsibility up to the A1089 Dock road turn, and the borough council who are responsible for the rest.

The side of the road was covered in letter and wrecked road and roadworks furniture including mangled signs, old cones and discarded sandbags.

Both the council and the agency have made the point that the problem largely lies with drivers who wantonly discard rubbish from the vehicles, though Highways England acknowledge that another contributor to the problems at large lorries carrying waste material.

And both organisations say they are doing their best and have referenced recent clean-up efforts.

A Highways England spokesperson said: "Millions of people travel on our network every day and despite our best efforts to keep roads clean, they can quickly become littered with rubbish from vehicles and unsecured loads.

"The litter on our roads can cause a hazard to drivers, our workers and wildlife, so we urge everyone to keep a bag in their car which they can use for rubbish, and then put it in the bin when they get home to improve the experience of all drivers who use our roads.

"Highways England litter picked on the A13 between the A1089 and the A1012 on Thursday and Friday night (18 & 19 March). We collected 120 bags of litter and debris. Prior to this, litter picking took place at various locations along the A13 on: 12/10/2020, 13/10/2020, 12/11/2020, 23/11/2020, 24/11/2020, 9/12/2020, 5/3/2021, 6/03/2021.

"Since October 2020, we have cleared 654 bags of litter along the A13.

"We are currently awaiting confirmation on whether we are able to use an upcoming road closure to litter pick – this would allow us to litter pick the entirety of the A13 starting at the end of this month."

And making reference to waste from HGVs, the agency said it will be trying to get a message across at source.

The spokesperson added: "Due to the proximity of the local waste and recycling centre, litter tends to blow from unsecured vehicles at this location, making this a challenging stretch to keep clear. We will speak to the waste and recycling centre about the possibility of signage at their site."

The agency has not made it clear which site it is referring to.

Thurrock Council's environment portfolio holder is Cllr Aaron Watkins. He told Nub News: "Thurrock Conservatives are committed to ensuring Thurrock is as clean as it can be. The £millions of investments into the Environment department are seeing the best independently assessed Keep Britain Tidy scores ever, much higher than the National England average - but we understand there is more to do.

"It is clear parts of the A13 don't look at their best currently, our major highways teams work throughout the year to improve the look of these areas. But with vast stretch's of the A13 under Highways England control we are often blamed for stretches of the road that we not responsible for, but our section of the A13 is cleaned four times a year.

"April is the next scheduled clean-up of our section of the A13. And our major highways team clean up other roads also, such as the A128 last week where the teams collected 58 bags of litter.

"We regularly speak to Highways England to get them to fulfil their responsibilities on cleaning the roadside but it often falls on deaf ears. We will be contacting HE yet again to remind them of their responsibilities and request an immediate clean up."

Thurrock Council leader Cllr Rob Gledhill added "The truth of the matter is, if people didn't throw rubbish out of their windows or if lorries carrying waste properly secured their loads this wouldn't happen.

"We have recently served notices on companies whose vehicles were spewing unsecured rubbish on the highway and will issue fines to the owners of vehicles where it is witnessed that rubbish is thrown by the occupiers.

"We issued over 3,500 fixed penalty notices for littering and other anti-social behaviour last year and will continue to do so whilst people irresponsibly use our streets or highways as litter bins, ashtrays or toilets."