CALLING litter a “British disease”, Darlington’s mayor is urging residents to do their bit in cleaning up the nation.

Aligning himself with the views expressed by prominent anti-litter campaigner and well known journalist Jeremy Paxman, Councillor Gerald Lee feels people should do more to tidy our “filthy nation”.

Speaking ahead of LitterFreeDurham’s next Big Spring Clean – taking place from Saturday, February 28 until Saturday, April 18 – he said: “Litter seems to be a British disease and despite many anti-litter campaigns in the past, the problem sadly remains with us.

“People are concerned about litter – MPs and councillors receive many complaints from residents about the state of the highway and byways.

“The cost to clean our roads, excluding motorways, and fly tipping has increased from £574m in 2007 to £1bn in 2013.”

Expressing his gratitude to the community groups voluntarily cleaning up their towns and villages, he called on others to follow in their footsteps and said: “They have grasped the nettle and organised regular litter picks.

“Their efforts are greatly appreciated by local authorities, LitterFreeDurham and people who care about the environment in which they live.”

He added: “Few solutions to any problem can be so simple – to save one billion, to save the lives of animals, birds and mammals and to make our country even better, we simply stop dropping litter.

“It couldn’t be easier but until this message is taken on board, we need to grit our teeth, don hi-viz jackets and get out there and do it ourselves.”