'I've picked litter since childhood, now it's art'

James Owen Thomas paints on rubbish he recovers, having picked up litter since the age of five

Creatives are used to the sniping of critics - but when the feedback for your latest work is that it's a load of old rubbish, it's not always a complaint.

Artist James Owen Thomas collected discarded items from the side of the A1 at Wentbridge in West Yorkshire, alongside National Highways workers.

He chopped them up before putting them on a canvas, painting them for a piece that celebrates nature and wildlife - and warns of the dangers posed to animals by roadside litter.

The 23-year-old, who has been litter picking since the age of five, suggests it may be his autism that makes him keen to clean, saying while childhood nature walks calmed him, litter back then was upsetting.

The commissioned creation is to be unveiled at Highways UK, a highways industry conference being held at the NEC near Birmingham on Wednesday during Recycle Week.

Hedgehogs feature in the piece - an animal that nobody wants to see killed on the roads, the artist says

Mr Thomas, who was born in Eastbourne, moved to North Yorkshire in 2011.

He said: "As a young child when out on walks with my mum, I was always keen to pick up litter that I saw in parks.

"Perhaps it's my autism that made me so concerned to make the areas tidy," he explained - being out in nature was calming, he said, but "the sight of litter upset me".

"I later learned that much of this wasted material could have been recycled and it eventually led to me creating art from discarded items, which also makes a statement about single-use products."

Mr Thomas said he used to like collecting used bus tickets, rail tickets and "all sorts of items that had served their purpose".

"Setting them out in scrapbooks was, I suppose, my early attempt at creating art."

Mr Thomas did the litter pick on the A1, which was closed on one side due to roadworks

The artist said: "I feel shocked by the huge amount of wildlife killed on the roads, much of it attracted by the litter seen as a source of food."

According to National Highways, animal charity the RSPCA has over the last three years received more than 10,000 reports of animals found injured, trapped or dead from discarded litter.

It added that having to clear litter from major A-roads and motorways could lead to lane closures and significant delays for drivers, with millions of pounds spent on cleaning up.

Of the piece going on display in Birmingham, Mr Thomas said: "Hedgehogs, as in my artwork, are considered very cute and nobody wants to see them being harmed and killed on our roads.

"Litter is wasteful and much of the material could be recycled... It shows a greater need to be more careful and considerate of the environment."