Highways England has conducted a clean of Cumbria's stretch of motorway and exposed the careless and messy habits of drivers.

More than 100 sacks of litter were collected during a three-day spring clean in March. 

Highways England routinely collects rubbish from motorways throughout the year and last month its contractors’ activity coincided with the national Clean for the Queen initiative to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday.

Workers targeted litter hotspots on the M6 in Cumbria between Friday March 4 and Sunday  March 6 and collected 116 sacks of rubbish.

Streetcare Officer at Barrow Borough Council, Peter Buckley, said: “It is incredibly important to keep the major roadsides clean and clear as well as towns and beaches, particularly when they are a major gateway into the area.”

Every year Highways England collects around 150,000 sacks of litter across the  country as part of routine maintenance work, which is an average of 411 bags every day. 

It costs Highways England more than £40 to collect each sack, which is roughly the same cost as fixing a pothole. As potholes are a real safety hazard the money could be better spent if drivers stopped being lazy and deposited their litter in bins.

The dangers of dropping litter on the roads is that it can hit other moving vehicles, potentially causing accidents and can also cause a threat to wildlife as well as contributing to flooded roads when it clogs up roadside drainage.