by Chris Hunter

chunter@thekmgroup.co.uk

Enough items and equipment to furnish a house have been dumped on major roads in Mid Kent over the last year, according to information released by road chiefs.

Carpets, armchairs, rolls of insulation, a deckchair and a bed – along with a mass of less desirable objects and materials – have been found abandoned on motorways and A-roads near Maidstone.

The findings come from the Highways Agency, which keeps a log of calls made to it by motorists who have spotted something of concern on the roads.

Reports for the M20 include a bed dumped on the slip road at Junction 5, near Aylesford; an armchair and a 6ft by 3ft piece of lino abandoned at Junction 6 at Sandling; and a carpet near Junction 8, Hollingbourne.

On the A249 near Stockbury a leather armchair was found.

Although the Highways Agency notes the reports, cleaning most A-roads is the responsibility of local authorities, while the agency removes litter and debris from motorways.

In the last year, it has collected 22,353 bags of rubbish from roadsides in Kent alone, although a significant number were collected from the Kent section of the M25.

Derek Turner, Highways Agency’s director of network operations, said: “Clearing litter puts our road workers at risk from injury and diverts resources away from road maintenance and repairs. Items thrown from vehicles can a hazard to other road users.

“Litter is unsightly, is bad for the environment and can block drains and lead to localised flooding.”

The reports also reveal the M20 is not a haven for wildlife – many dead foxes and badgers were reported, along with dogs, cats, two swans and a peacock at Junction 6.

One exception is a report from the M20 at Aylesford in which a customer informed the agency “there are bats in the trees that are due to be cut down for sound proof barrier works”.

Building equipment such as ladders, “builder’s bags” and hammers feature on the reports, as well as oil drums, rubble, heavy duty cable, lumps of chain and, on one occasion at Junction 8, a “yellow bag of corrosive material”.

Another report comes from the night of Saturday, April 25, when a customer reported she had driven through “what she thought was water” on the M20 between Junctions 5 and 7. The reports adds: “It wasn’t until a later inspection she found that her car was covered in cement.”

Slightly vaguer reports include a “black box” found in the hard shoulder and a “large green plastic dome” at Junction 7, near Detling.