Residents fume after council contractor seen littering

Rob Turner said the Balfour Beatty employee's littering "riled" him up

Balfour Beatty has apologised after an employee was seen throwing rubbish into the hedges of a village in Herefordshire.

The firm, which does roadworks across the county for Herefordshire Council, was repairing potholes in Putley, near Ledbury, in January at the time of the incident.

Residents found rotting fruit, pasties and old sandwiches in the hedgerow.

A spokesperson for Balfour Beatty Living Places said the company had taken "taken the appropriate action".

Parish lengthsman Rob Turner, who helps oversee smaller highways maintenance schemes in the area, said he witnessed the incident.

He told the BBC the man dumped about two carrier bags full of rubbish.

The team were doing maintenance on the road at the time

"We just noticed one of the lads was cleaning out his vehicle of all his rotten sandwiches, crisp packets, rotten fruit and just chucking it into the hedgerow," he said.

"Seeing someone representing the council dumping rubbish riled me. We could not believe what we were seeing."

• Listen: Herefordshire villagers 'disgusted' by littering

The individual responsible apologised to residents after being caught, he said, and attempted to pull some rubbish back out the hedges - but not all of it.

The matter has now been reported to Putley Parish Council and the matter is expected to be raised at its next meeting.

A Balfour Beatty Living Places spokesperson said: "We have since taken the appropriate action and have reminded our colleagues of the standards and behaviours we expect of all those who work for and with us, on behalf of Herefordshire County Council.

"At Balfour Beatty Living Places, we are committed to providing a best-in-class service and would like to apologise for the actions of the individual which fell short of the high standards to which we hold ourselves accountable."