A SPATE of litter has been left strewn across a town, leading to councillors and residents calling for action.

Discarded food waste and black bin bags were dumped without a care at locations in Harwich and Dovercourt.

As a consequence, bin bags with food waste inside were targeted by animals which ripped the bags open and left rubbish trailing across the streets.

Hotspots included along High Street, Mill Lane, Empire Road, Kingsway and Bagshaw Road.

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Harwich town councillor Geoff Smith, who regularly patrols the area to highlight fly-tipping and dumped rubbish, described the amount of mess as “unacceptable”.

“While I appreciate it can be quite difficult for households that don’t have the space for a wheelie bin to store their rubbish, putting food waste in the black sacks is going to encourage seagulls and cats to rip them open and scatter rubbish everywhere,” he said.

“If people used their food caddy this wouldn’t happen.

“Putting broken glass and beer bottles in with the rest of your general waste is not acceptable, it could cause a serious injury to the refuse collectors.

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“There are enough bottle banks around the town to dispose of bottles in the appropriate manner.”

Residents were also quick to voice their disgust at the situation.

Graeme Edgar said it was a “shambles,” while Andrea King said “the whole town looks a mess”.

And Steve Lawrance added: “Someone has dumped at least half a bin bag of dog mess in the alleyway behind Maria Street which has split open - it’s stinking the whole neighbourhood out.

“I really don’t understand the mentality of some people.”

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Last week, Harwich town councillor Maria Fowler called on people to take responsibility for their litter following a series of eyesore rubbish dumps left during the bank holiday weekend.

She said: “This is an age old problem and I don’t know what the answer is, but my best guess would be to educate people more on the issue.

“It’s time people started tidying up after themselves and played their part in keeping our town looking clean.”