Litter everywhere

Updates

• Thank you for contacting National Highways about litter.

  Littering unfortunately has a significant impact on parts of our road network. We aim to keep our roads as clean and tidy as possible, and our litter picking activities are carefully planned to minimise disruption to road users and to ensure the safety of our teams.

  Any funding we receive is prioritised for safety critical and essential works, such as repairing defects to the carriageway and infrastructure. Because litter removal is costly, we combine it with other maintenance activities wherever possible. While this approach may at times result in delay, meaning litter may remain longer than our customers would prefer, it helps reduce the frequency of road closures and disruption.

  We manage an extensive network across the south of England. When recurring litter hotspots exceed the standards set out in the Defra Code of Practice (Grades A–D), we instruct our maintenance partners to prioritise clearing them outside our usual annual maintenance cycle if needed.

  Our inspection team visited the location on 6 March 2026 to assess the situation, and remedial work has been raised with our maintenance partners to clear litter from the nearside between junctions 2 and 1, as well the central reservation as soon as possible.

  This work may be carried out in phases and is expected to be completed within the next 30 working days, subject to the required permissions for road closures.

  Kind regards

  National Highways

  State changed to: Closed

  Posted by National Highways at 13:08, Friday 6 March 2026