Roadside verges will pile up with rubbish and urine-filled bottles for a year following a council’s decision to skip a six-monthly clean, it is feared.

Serious concerns have been raised about the cash-saving move, which will see litter dumped next to A-roads in Dover left untouched for 12 months.

Typically, the tidy-ups are carried out by Dover District Council (DDC) in the spring and autumn, but it was decided the most recent would not go ahead.

The struggling authority says the move – revealed in a recent cabinet report – will save it £130,000 as it attempts to balance the books.

But pictures taken just days ago show the scale of the rubbish now piling up on the side of the A2, A20 and A256.

The litter scattered across verges and in woodland includes cans, plastic bags, tissues and discarded food containers.

There are also many bottles filled with what is believed to urine, with lorry drivers on long trips often accused of relieving themselves into the containers before discarding them.

Critics say “residents expect a better service” from their council.

Former cabinet member for finance on DDC, Cllr Chris Vinson (Con), says the decision will leave roadsides looking a mess for a whole year.

He said: “Reducing the cleaning to annual will leave the roads - the A2 the A20 the A256 - blighted for a whole year between cleans, with the accumulated rubbish of countless lorries and cars.”

The Walmer representative said it is “something councillors get complaints about regularly”.

He continued: “Prior to May’s election when we as Conservatives were in administration, we were talking to officers about how we could actually increase the cleansing [rate].

“In six months after the election the opposite has happened and the Labour cabinet, seemingly without publishing the decision, have decided to cut in half the frequency of the cleans.

“The result will be obvious. It will be, frankly, bottles of lorry driver urine and rubbish accumulated for an entire year in our hedgerows - residents expected a better service from their district council.”

Cllr Vinson argues that the new Labour administration “don’t really understand how to balance the budget without making cuts”.

However, when Cllr Vinson was cabinet member for finance under the previous Conservative administration, cuts were already planned for cleansing services.

Cabinet papers from February show that the council had budgeted to make £440,000 of savings, although how this was to be achieved was not set out in detail, with no mention of the £130,000 cut to roadside clear-ups.

The new Labour administration elected in May is still working within the previous budget.

Deputy leader of DDC, Cllr Jamie Pout (Lab), stresses that the move is “absolutely not” a decision by the council’s Labour administration elected in May.

“These budgets were set by the previous administration,” he continued.

“It’s part of £440,000 saving on street cleansing that they proposed, their cabinet approved and then full council approved.”

“We’re having to balance books to ensure we’re not one of those councils that goes bankrupt.

“It’s not our preference to be cutting frontline services, but unfortunately we’re left with a budget where that is the option, and that is a budget that we’ve inherited.”

Cllr Vinson believes that with National Highways and Kent County Council (KCC) mainly responsible for the roads, they both should take more responsibility for the clean-ups.

National Highways confirmed that A-roads are the responsibility of councils, as they are the litter authority in law.

It says it only clears litter by A-roads at structures such as bridges and tunnels.

A DDC spokesperson said: “The reduction in high-speed road cleansing is one measure taken during the course of the year to seek to deliver these savings.

“DDC’s contract with Veolia makes provision for two high-speed road cleanses per year, one in the spring and one in the autumn.

“By cancelling one of these – for autumn 2023 - we aim to achieve a £130,000 saving.”

The move only affects this financial year, and decisions on whether the bi-annual cleaning will return next year will be taken when the council drafts a budget for 2024/25.

At a meeting on Monday (December 11), a council officer confirmed that the specific decision on cutting this year's roadside cleaning regime in half was not made by councillors.

"The total figure that was put in the budget papers was actually £440k [savings] both for recycling and street cleansing service cuts," the council finance officer said.

"Some of the savings perhaps that were agreed in February and March were a little ambitious when it comes to try and deliver that through a contract with Veolia which is actually quite complex.

"The various heads of services were being asked at this time last year to come up with ideas for savings, those were presented to members through cabinet and then to full council, and then it's left for officers to deliver - that's how it happens."