HAMPSHIRE County Council leader Roy Perry has hit back at Highway Agency officials after he was criticised for clearing litter from roadside verges at Wellow and Ower.

Mr Perry approached the Government organisation (which became Highways England on Wednesday) about the amount of rubbish he and a team of helpers picked up from verges along the A36.

The team removed ten sack- loads of rubbish in less than an hour on the Government’s Community Clear Up Day on March 21 and Mr Perry has hoped the Highways Agency or district council environmental health teams would collect the sacks of rubbish from a roadside lay-by.

But when he complained to the agency about the litter strewn verges and asked for action to be taken he got a rap across the knuckles for his DIY work.

“I can only describe the state of the road at Ower as disgusting. It is the gateway to the New Forest National Park and is shameful,” said an angry Mr Perry in a letter to the Highways Agency’s route delivery manager Rachel Scott.

He added: “Most people coming to Wellow pass through this mess which is why the Wellow team of councillors and school governors and villagers cleared it. We do not enjoy living in such a mess or letting visitors think this is how we are prepared to live.”

Mr Perry pointed out that the slip road onto the M27 near the A3090 was even worse and he has asked the Highways Agency to do something about it.

Mr Perry suggested using people who had committed offences to clear the rubbish under community service schemes.

In response Ms Scott said: “I have some concerns regarding your actions on the A36. If you had consulted the Highways Agency prior to the event, although we would not want to appear unsympathetic to the litter picking initiative and have no power to stop you, we would not have advised walking along the verge at this location for safety reasons.”

Ruling out the use of deploying people under Community Payback to pick up the litter, the official added: “Given that it is an extremely dangerous working environment, nobody is allowed to work on a strategic road network without comprehensive training and it was concluded that it would not be possible or cost effective to provide offenders with the requisite training to work in close proximity to fast moving traffic.”

The Highways Agency has told Mr Perry it is the responsibility of the borough council to clear litter from the A36 at Ower and it admits it is unsightly and can be a threat to the environment.

Explaining to Mr Perry that the Agency clears around 180,000 bags of litter from England’s motorways annually at a cost of around £10m.

Ms Scott told Mr Perry: “It’s a shame that the local community would appear not to share your passion for the environment as it’s a fair assumption to make that it’s the same people that live in and visit Wellow that drop the litter.” This has angered Mr Perry who said: “I don’t think it is a fair assumption to make that it’s the same people that live in and Wellow that drop the litter. I suspect a few Wellow residents and their visitors may drop litter but the scale and nature of the litter on this A36 trunk road is out of proportion to other roads in the village. This is people passing through causing the scale of the problem.”

He has also hit back at the Agency’s criticism of him working on the roadside verge.

“What is the point of the minister appealing to us to clear up our village and you obstructing his appeal by advising us not to walk on the verge besides the A36 which serves as out village high street,” asked Mr Perry.