As I do my regular litter pick across the centre of Petersfield, I notice quite a few discarded pay and display dockets lying around our car parks. I also notice many paper tissues, again just left, dropped or thrown away.  

Also, I pick up many shop receipts; all making our car parks and streets look unkempt, untidy and scruffy. It also leads to hard core litterbugs freely adding to the mess with their paper cups, drinks cans and take-away food cartons. 

I think, I hope that this is just carelessness rather than deliberate. Perhaps these pieces of paper just fly off the dashboard from open car windows as people drive away or just fall from peoples’ pockets or from their shopping bags, unnoticed by the owner. 

So, could I ask everyone to make a new year’s resolution? Please be more vigilant about such small pieces of flighty paper falling from your person or blowing from your cars. 

And maybe promote anti-littering among your family, friends and work colleagues. And if we all became a little more aware of the litter problem and maybe if each of us did something to make our little corner of our beautiful England a bit tidier, then maybe we might begin to fix this scourge which is blighting our streets and our roadsides.

A happy and litter free new year to everyone. Thank you.

Glenn McLernon

Petersfield