The new CPRE campaign, which targets littering and fly-tipping, was launched yesterday and is called Stop the Drop.

Best-selling author Bill Bryson, president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), launched the three year campaign in order to highlight the effect of littering and fly-tipping. The Highways Agency estimates that 25 million tonnes of litter is dropped every year.

Mr Bryson said: “Litter is becoming the default condition of the countryside. That is why CPRE is launching Stop the Drop, to make the countryside what it was almost everywhere until very recently, and what most of us still want it to be – a place of cherished beauty and sometimes utter perfection.”

He concluded: “If you’re driven to distraction by the fact that litter costs a whopping £600 million and more a year to clear up, this is the campaign for you.”

The CPRE and CleanupUK have set up Litter Action, a community website. This site supports the new CPRE anti-litter campaign by connecting volunteer groups across England, giving them guidance and providing links to campaigning advice.

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