A CHIRK resident has taken matters into his own hands as he looks to tackle the issue of fast-food litter being left on country lanes in and around the town.

Meirion Matthias, of Lodgevale Park, noticed rubbish had been left scattered at a number of the nearby lanes following the reopening of the drive-thru at the local McDonald’s restaurant.

To tackle the situation, he has bought a litter-picker and bin to help clean up the area himself; however he says he has been left incensed by the litter.

He believes the litter is not the responsibility of the restaurant itself, but the people who are wrongly disposing it.

“It’s not the restaurant’s fault, it’s just some of the customers and their thoughtless actions,” he said.

“They will pull into any lay-by or pull-in, eat their food and then out the window goes the rubbish – it’s unbelievable.

“It’s disrespectful and it’s a threat to livestock in the fields nearby.

“I’ve become so incensed that I’ve bought myself a litter-picker and a bin hoop and I go out once a week and do what I can.

“I know McDonald’s have their own community initiative around litter-picking, but it doesn’t reach out as far as people tend to travel and dump their rubbish.”

During lockdown, Meirion and his household have been walking along the lanes daily, and he was shocked to see how quickly the area became a hot-spot for littering again once the restaurant had reopened.

He said: We’ve been walking the lanes a lot during our daily exercise so we can ensure we’re far away from other people.

“The country lanes around the back of Chirk have been affected by this, it’s just horrible.

“Over the past few months they have been pretty much pristine barring the odd empty water bottle or something.

“Now the lanes are covered in multiple cup-holder things, dip pots, and other rubbish in the hedges and into the farmers’ fields.

“On the lane running up to McDonald’s, there are three bins, and these fill up rapidly – I wouldn’t even like to guess how many cars stop there each day.

“When the bins are too full for more rubbish, people just stick their stuff at the side of the bins – if you’re doing that, you might as well chuck it out the window.”

He hopes people will learn to be more considerate, and hopes in the future they can be held to account for their actions.

“I don’t think there’s anything you can say to make these people be more considerate,” he said.

“There is no word to describe their actions – it is just a total lack of respect.

“If these people aren’t caught, they’re not bothered.

“I think the idea of printing registration plate numbers onto every bag would not be going far enough, I think you’d need to print it onto every item which is purchased.”