A litter-strewn underpass which is a magnet for anti-social behaviour is having to be cleared weekly by volunteers.

The Folkestone Town Sprucer scheme, which relies on grants and donations to function, collected 41 bags of rubbish in one day from Caesar’s Way, Cheriton.

It is an area which is regularly vandalised by groups of teenagers, residents have claimed.

They say about 30 to 50 youths gather there on Friday nights.

The route leads people under the M20 motorway near Shearway Business Park and comes out near the Channel Tunnel terminal service ring road.

David Taylor, who runs the Sprucer group, said: “We clean up at the Caesar’s Way trouble spot every week.

'We clean up at the Caesar’s Way trouble spot every week.' - David Taylor

“Friday is the big party night, so I check the aftermath again on Saturday mornings.

“Despite repeated appeals to the police and the council, nothing has been done to address the problem.”

Residents who have been monitoring the situation have raised the ongoing issue on social media and on a public website called Streetlife.

There have been calls to turn the path’s lights off as a deterrent, but this action has not been implemented.

Police Sgt Helen Bland said: “We are aware that young people meet in Caesar’s Way at Folkestone and there has been a quantity of litter left in the area that has been cleared by the local authority.

“While the Community Safety Unit is not aware of any reports of crime and disorder in the vicinity, where residents and visitors believe it is occurring, I would encourage them to report the matter to allow us to build an accurate picture of the issues.

“This will inform the appropriate police and partner response.”

The Sprucers tackle areas of the town daily and collect rubbish that has been dropped.

A Shepway District Council spokesman said: “We will be carrying out weekly inspections of the underpass area to monitor the situation and refer any cleaning issues to our waste contractor, Veolia.

“We are aware that some teenagers are meeting locally at night to drink alcohol.
“To address this, we are at an advanced stage of delivering a targeted education programme to secondary schools."

To report incidents of fly-tipping generally, visit shepway.gov.uk/report-a-problem, email environmental.services@shepway.gov.uk or call customer services on 01303 858660.