The teams will get started on Monday 27 and over the next 10 working days (Monday – Friday each week) will clear the following areas:

• Belstane Road, Carluke
• B7011 Brownlee Road, Law 
• Airdrie Road, Carluke - Airdrie Road to dual carriageway 
• A73 Lanark Road - Auchenglen Road to start of pavement in Lanark 
• A72 Lanark Road - Garrion Bridge to A73 Kirkfieldbank
• B7078 - Douglas to Crawfordjohn cut-off  
• B7078 along the A70 Ayr Road to Rigside
• Coalburn Road, Lesmahagow – Coalburn

Time spent on each road will vary dependent on volumes of litter, length of the road, and weather conditions, but teams will tackle the project in the above order above and aim to be finished by Friday 10 March.

To ensure the safety of our workforce during the clean-up programme, each road will have to be reduced to one lane at the sections being worked on between 9am and 3pm daily. However, as some could take longer than others, drivers are urged to be prepared for potential delays or to consider alternative routes.

This programme is the second one this year, following an earlier clear-up in the Hamilton area in January, with East Kilbride and the Rutherglen and Cambuslang areas being targeted later on in March. Full details of these will be publicised in advance.

Councillor Robert Brown, the chair of the council’s Community and Enterprise Resources Committee said: “It is again very disappointing that we have had to waste so much time and money clearing up rubbish that could have and should have been disposed of responsibly.

“Our teams work hard to keep our area clean of dumped litter and rubbish. But the reality is that we need everyone in our communities to help by not throwing away rubbish that should be put in road-side bins, household bins or collected and taken to any of our recycling centres.

“A minority of people seem to think the rules don’t apply to them and that they can dump litter and rubbish wherever they like. This costs the public services time and money that could be better spent on other things. Neither the council nor local communities are prepared to tolerate this, and we aim to stamp it out.

“We take our role in changing that behaviour seriously, through a combination of education, awareness-raising and enforcement.

"But we also have a duty to make sure our communities are safe, clean, and welcoming. So, while we condemn the actions of an irresponsible few, we have to take this action to improve the environment. 

“So, I apologise for any inconvenience caused during this year’s clean-up campaign and thank everyone in advance for their patience while we again carry out this time-consuming and expensive task.” 

Penalties for those caught dropping litter range from £80, while the Illegal dumping of waste carries fines from £200, as well as the potential for criminal charges and even a prison sentence for the worst offenders.