Council criticised for not closing A12 to clear litter

A Freedom of Information request revealed Braintree District Council had not closed the A12 in order for it to be cleared of litter in 2025

A volunteer litter picker has criticised a council for not closing a part of the A12 in order for rubbish to be cleared.

Mary Jarvis, 50, from Chelmsford, Essex, submitted a Freedom of Information request to Braintree Council that revealed the authority so far this year had not closed the A12 between junctions 19 and 23 to clean up litter.

Items such as cans, bottles, pumpkins, tyres and plastering were spotted at the side of the A12 on Monday.

The authority said it had cleared litter along the verges on the A12 throughout the year - which it said was safe to do without closing the road - and it was planning a major litter clean up in "early 2026".

Ms Jarvis, who is part of the community group Chelmsford Litter Wombles, said she was "shocked" the council had not closed its section of the road this year.

She said other councils, such as Chelmsford City Council, have regular clear ups of the parts of the dual carriageway to which they are responsible and therefore Braintree District Council needed to "set a schedule" to do the same.

Chelmsford City Council said: "Our target is to clear all areas of the A12 which are our responsibility every six to eight weeks."

Taking responsibility

More than half a tonne of litter was collected across a mile and a half stretch of the A12 between Stanway and Marks Tey, last year.

Ed Lennox, the operations director at the campaign group Clean Up Britain, said there had to be zero tolerance towards littering.

"These people [who litter] are disgusting and I make no apologies for saying that," he said.

Throwing litter from a car is a criminal offence in the UK, under Section 88A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Mr Lennox said he believed there was a problem with the legislative framework, which prevents agencies from tackling littering because of disputes over who was responsible for the land.

"Each litter authority would rather argue with a neighbouring authority about who owns what, so nothing ever gets done," he said.

Essex County Council said responsibility for the A12 rests with National Highways.

A National Highways spokesperson said: "National Highways is not responsible for litter picking on the A12, this is the responsibility of the local authority."

Braintree District Council said: "We are already litter-picking safe areas of the A12, including lay-bys on a regular basis.

"Sections requiring closures to adhere with safety requirements for working on high-speed roads are currently in planning to ensure the necessary requirements for traffic management lead times - these works are expected in early 2026."

The Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Housing and Communities and Local Government were approached for comment.