A frustrated woman has urged drivers who toss soiled underwear into the hedge to take their mess home with them.

Heather Woodcock, who has worked tirelessly to keep a rural Kent road clean, says gin bottles and takeaway packets are also regularly discarded at a littering hotspot.

Describing how she recently cleaned up Oak Grove Lane situated between Tenterden and High Halden, she said: “There was a pile of adult clothes which had poo all in it.

“That was left next to my elderly neighbour's drive.

“If you have had an embarrassing situation then take it home.

“There were a lot of gin bottles at one particular part.

“Nobody apart from me and a few other people in the village walk down there so it must be people lobbing things out the car window as they go past.

“Sometimes rubbish ends up hanging on the hedge and it has become so much worse recently.”

The 66-year-old has all her life lived on the route formerly known as Biddenden Road, all her life and, having filled three black sacks with squalor over the weekend, says the rubbish dumping is getting worse.

She says the area is regularly blighted by waste believed to be thrown out of car windows as drivers speed through the lane.

“Those three bags contained only what was on the verge, I couldn't get into the ditches which are full of bottles,” she explained.

“We’re a cut-through so people use us to try to beat the traffic between the A28 Ashford Road and the A262 Biddenden Road.

“Are people now thinking this is alright because they are seeing other rubbish there?

“I just don’t understand the mentality of it.”

Mrs Woodcock has taken it upon herself to tidy up the stretch of road but says more needs to be done to stop it happening.

She added: “I just want to raise awareness because this isn't right. I’m even considering putting cameras up outside the house.

“It's not just about old people moaning because I know a little girl in the village who goes up and down with her litter picker.

“She is also making a massive contribution and it's something we should all be aware of.”

After hearing the news, Ashford Borough Council (ABC) ward member for the area Cllr Alan Pickering (Con) is encouraging people to report litter as soon as they see it before the issue becomes worse.

He said: “Litter is a national problem now, we have a population who are not concerned about things.

“It is a throwaway society and it's a shame but it is happening everywhere.

“People take advantage nowadays, they don't seem to care but that is the society we live in.

“We have a very good website at ABC where you can report litter and it gets cleaned up very quickly

“You can even get the app and do it on your phone and it's important people know this.”

A spokesman for ABC said: “We have not had any recent reports about littering in this area, however we have instructed our contractor to visit the site and clear all the litter and waste.

“They will then add this area to their ‘hot spot’ list so that it is routinely cleansed.”