Vast quantities of cans and other litter on all slip roads at M20 junction 12 and 13

Updates

• Thank you for contacting National Highways about litter.

  We regard litter as a significant issue, and we share your concerns about the amount of rubbish discarded on our roads. Cyclical maintenance is our yearly cycle of works. We aim to clear every location of litter at least once per year. These activities are planned and inspected in accordance with: • The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Code of practice for litter and refuse • GM701 Highways Asset delivery & maintenance requirements • GS801 Highway Asset delivery & asset inspection requirements

  We manage an extensive road network across the south of England and when specific litter hotspots are identified as a recurring problem, we’ll initiate additional work outside our cyclic maintenance to instruct our maintenance partners to prioritise clearing those sections of our network if it exceeds the levels outlined by the Defra Code of Practice system (Grades A to D).

  Littering by people is, unfortunately, a behaviour that has a big impact on some parts of our roads. We aim to keep our roads as tidy and free of litter where possible. Our litter picking is carefully planned to try to minimise the impact it has on road users and the safety of our people.

  Litter picks often require lane or junction closures, which can be both disruptive to traffic flow and costly to deliver. To minimise the number of these disruptions and make the most effective use of available funds, we aim to carry out litter picking alongside other maintenance activities wherever possible. While this approach can sometimes give the impression of a delayed response and may mean litter remains roadside for longer than we’d prefer, it helps avoid repeated closures and ensures our resources are focused on essential safety work, such as repairing carriageway and infrastructure defects.

  There’s no dedicated budget solely for litter clearance; instead, the costs associated with managing litter are included within our general maintenance and repair budget, which supports all operational requirements across the network. Within this budget, our priority is always to address safety critical issues and infrastructure defects first. As a result, clearance activities may not always progress as quickly or as frequently as our customers would like. However, by combining litter picking with other maintenance tasks wherever possible, we can minimise costs more effectively while continuing to keep the network safe.

  We have passed your report to our local inspector who will review this issue as part of their next inspection and arrange any remedial action if required.

  Please be assured we’ll continue to monitor this route in line with the Defra Code of Practice and will raise additional work outside our normal cyclic maintenance where possible to clear litter at this location.

  Kind regards

  National Highways

  State changed to: Closed

  Posted by National Highways at 09:33, Friday 27 March 2026