A greater sense of civic pride together with tougher enforcement is key to combating the “routine vandalism” committed by litterbugs, according to rural champion - author Bill Bryson.

A greater sense of civic pride together with tougher enforcement is key to combating the “routine vandalism” committed by litterbugs, according to rural champion - author Bill Bryson.

Mr Bryson, who is president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, today launches a joint campaign with the think tank Policy Exchange highlighting the problem.

According to a specially commissioned report, the amount of litter being dropped has shot up by 500pc annually since the 1960s and local authorities are now left to foot a bill of an estimated �500m a year to clean it up.

Mr Bryson, who lives near Norwich and has long been an anti-litter campaigner, said: “This report identifies the lack of any systematic logic in enforcement policy. Fines are an essential enforcement tool, and one which needs to be applied far more consistently than is currently the case.

“As this report also says, we need community buy-in to the fight against litter; we must build civic pride in clean and tidy environments, with communities competing to be spotless. Only then can we stop the exasperating and routine vandalism of a country so rich in natural, cultural and built heritage.”