Spalding area councillor calls on people to take their rubbish home rather than litter when McDonalds drive thru reopens

A councillor is hoping not to see a repeat of scenes where ‘idiots’ dumped rubbish in front of a full bin when South Holland’s two McDonalds drive thrus reopen later this week.

South Holland district councillor Roger Gambba-Jones is calling on people not to waste taxpayer’s money by littering and to take their waste home.

McDonalds will be reopening its Spalding and Long Sutton drive thrus on Wednesday from 11am. The chain shut all of its branches in March due to coronavirus.

In recent weeks, it has been gradually reopening some sites, including one in Eye Green, Peterborough, where a full bin was pictured in a nature reserve surrounded by empty McDonalds wrappers and cartons.

This prompted a Tweet from Coun Gambba-Jones: “What does this say about those who use McDonalds drive thrus? The bin was full, idiots, take it home, put it in your bin!”

Coun Gambba-Jones, the council’s portfolio holder for place, says he stands by the tweet and added: “When you see a bin and it is full, throwing it on the floor next to it is inexcusable. It is a sad demonstration of stupidity and selfishness on people’s parts. I don’t understand it.”

Coun Gambba Jones says the council can spend £40,000 to £50,000 on clearing up after fly tippers and littering, cash which he said could be better spent. He added that other parts of Lincolnshire had seen an increase in fly-tipping during the lockdown.

He said: “The appeal is to please take it with you if you can’t find anywhere to throw it away responsibly. “

A McDonalds spokesman said:”We take our responsibility around litter very seriously and, for the past 30 years, we have been conducting daily litter patrols which have continued since our recent reopening.

“We have a dedicated team carrying out litter picks in the surrounding area, collecting others’ rubbish, as well as our own, and we encourage customers to dispose of their litter responsibly.”

The firm is anticipating high demand as its teams adjust to new procedures and the spokesman added: “We will work closely with local authorities and the police as required.

“We may determine that it is necessary to close drive thru lanes if queues cause disruption, putting employees or customers at risk.”