Last Wednesday, in a layby outside Brackley, Northamptonshire, Trish Savill and her band of self-styled Wombles proudly took photos of their morning’s work: 28 bags stacked neatly against the verge.
It had taken them an hour, but they had barely made a dent in the sprawl of unrecognisable, rotting refuse already working its way into the soil, mixed with dumped white goods and some more dubious finds.
One bag contained 12 empty shoe boxes, the likely aftermath of a theft. Another contained dozens of bottles of what Savill called “driver Tizer – as we affectionately call piss in a bottle”.
I’ve never understood the mind of someone who will piss in a bottle, then throw said bottle at the side of the road. Just tip the thing out!
I have heard this explained as being due to truck company rules that the driver can’t leave the vehicle unless at a truckstop - presumably for insurance reasons. So, when they pull into a layby overnight, since they don’t want a puddle of piss next to the truck, they do this.
They use laybys instead of truck stops because they have to pay for the truckstops themselves.
How accurate any of this is, I don’t know, and clearly none of it should be an excuse even if it is the actual reason.