Taking the fight to Potters Bar litter

A company director from Potters Bar is forming a flying task force to tackle the scourge of litter in and around his home town.

Simon Winterflood, 61, of The Ridgeway, has teamed up with neighbours to organise voluntary litter-picks, and hopes to make a start next month at the roundabout at Junction 24 of the M25 motorway.

He said: “I am demoralised and saddened by the continual build-up of general litter and flytips on the pavements and verges.

“It appears to be a nationwide epidemic but I am concentrating my efforts where I can make an impact, locally here in Potters Bar and in particular at the roundabout.

“We shall work in support of Hertsmere Council, who are clearly constrained by budgetary as well as health and safety restrictions, preventing them reaching the rubbish that’s considered out of bounds.

”I would be interested to hear from anyone that feels as strongly as I do.

“We shall venture into areas the council employees will not – we shall do that safely of course.”

Through his work as a director of a steel business, Mr Winterflood regularly visits the London Borough of Enfield, which he feels is notably tidier than Hertsmere.

Borough council officers have told him they will target the Junction 24 roundabout next month, but Mr Winterflood plans to visit it with his team soon afterwards to do a more thorough job.

Potential team members should contact him on keeppottersbartidy@gmail.com

A Hertsmere Borough Council spokeswoman said: “Street cleansing, which involves sweeping and litter picking, is carried out in Potters Bar on a daily basis. We encourage people to use the bins provided or to hold on to litter until they get home, but unfortunately some people do drop litter.

“We like to support community or volunteer litter picks and have registered to take part in Keep Britain Tidy’s spring clean. Our team can provide bags and work with groups to organise collections of full bags after they have finished, so please contact our Street Scene team if you would like to organise a litter pick. We can only support litter picks in locations safe for volunteers such as green spaces, quiet roads or housing estates.

“The area near Junction 24 of the M25 is the joint responsibility of us and Herts Highways, and is cleared twice a year, with our next scheduled clean in February. To do this, we work with partner agencies due to the safety issues, so cannot recommend or endorse any independent litter picking activities in areas like these due to the extremely hazardous conditions.

“We would encourage anyone who would like to organise a litter pick to work with our Street Scene team.”