Stantonbury Councillor Alex Walker is calling for Aldi in Stantonbury to take more responsibility for local littering.
Pictures reveal how the Aldi supermarket in Stantonbury has fast become a litter hotspot with green areas, pathways and bushes flush with plastic bottles, containers, newspapers and magazines.
And in the wake of the Great British Spring Clean, Councillor Alex Walker and community champion, Barbara Wright, took to social media to pressure the supermarket into action.
Cllr Walker tweeted Aldi UK saying: “I’ve tried to contact HQ to get your store in Stantonbury, Milton Keynes, to start regular litter picks of the car park and surrounding areas. I’ve had no response. It’s awful at the moment and its attracting vermin. Can you look into it ASAP?!”
A spokesperson for Aldi replied: “We’re very sorry to hear this. We appreciate the feedback and will ensure that this is logged with the relevant departments and the store to investigate this further.”
Keep Britain Tidy figures show that more than two million pieces of litter were dropped in the UK every day with the cost of street cleaning costing the taxpayer more than £1bn a year.
Cllr Alex Walker said: “It’s important to keep our local communities clean. Residents are doing their part with regular litter picks to give Stantonbury some TLC but this level of litter is unacceptable and the supermarkets must do more to tackle rampant littering on their doorsteps.
"It is good news that we have received a response from the Aldi store in Stantonbury and we will be keeping a close eye on the local area to ensure they stick to their word and keep Stantonbury litter-free.”
Barbara Wright, a local community champion in the Stantonbury area added: “As a resident of this ward for more than 40 years, I know how important it is to feel pride in the local area. There’s only so much we as a community can do with litter picks and it is important that we see improvement in the state of the area going forward.
"Local schools should also play their part in taking a proactive role to stopping littering. Ultimately, people should also take personal responsibility because if people simply didn’t drop litter, we wouldn’t have a problem.”
