I’m not by nature a violent person. I don’t even bear grudges for long, but there are certain things which make my blood boil.

I was following a car on the M20 last week when two windows opened and an avalanche of litter was flung out of each side of the vehicle. They’d clearly finished their fast food meal in unison.

My ire at witnessing this appalling act of selfishness and total disregard for our environment was so great, just for a split-second, I actually thought about running them off the road.

Fortunately common sense prevailed and motorway road rage was avoided but my fury at the scummy behaviour of these lowlifes didn’t abate, not least because I felt powerless to do anything in the face of such blatant lawbreaking.

Can you imagine the police reaction to taking a call from a concerned member of the public reporting an incident of littering? I wonder if motorway cops have ever taken a case against anyone for this crime.

Most councils hand out less than one fine a week to litterers, with one-in-six councils issuing no fines at all across a period of a year.

Campaigners at Clean Up Britain recognise the shameful state of our country and say councils enforcing fines should be made compulsory, with on-the-spot penalties, currently £150, immediately being raised to £1,000.

But, whether the fine is £1, £100 or £10,000 it makes no difference when they’re not issued.

What we need is a penalty which acts as a deterrent. If it was up to me, I’d have culprits publicly lashed in the street – believe me, it wouldn’t take long for this measure to become effective.

However, I accept this might be a step too far for lily-livered snowflakes, who advocate listening and understanding, rather than proper punishment.

Singapore has an alternative solution and when I last visited the country it was spotlessly clean. They do have fines - $1,000 for a first offence, $2,000 for a second and $10,000 for a third or subsequent offence. But, and this is the sensible bit, second-time offenders also have to undertake a corrective work order where they carry out tasks in the community.

I’d still prefer it if repeat offenders were flogged but realise this isn’t likely so would accept work gangs, wearing identifying hi-vis clothing, clearing litter from the roadside or our local parks.

On top of this, every council must introduce an effective and efficient method for fining culprits immediately. If they just put the same effort into this as they do for parking, we’d all enjoy a cleaner, healthier, more environmentally-friendly country.

One cost-effective solution, which could be introduced quickly and easily, would be to task the current army of traffic wardens with catching as many litter louts as parking offenders and reorganising their current bonus schemes to reflect this.