Extra clean-up crews have been deployed to a busy road amid complaints the amount of litter is the worst ever.

Notable grub-spots on the A249 are between Sheppey and Stockbury.

Sue Sills, of Tunstall, was disgusted by the amount of litter. “It’s just hideous,” she said. “I cannot see why it’s allowed to happen.

“I’m tempted to get a group of people together and we’ll do it ourselves. It’s got to stop.”

A Minster resident, who has lived on the Island for four years after retiring, said: “I have never seen so much plastic and rubbish around - never as bad as this on the A249 and Brielle Way.

“If I was to come onto Sheppey now from the A249 for the first time, I would turn around at the first roundabout.

“If you want tourists, it has to look clean and tidy. If there’s rubbish, people will drop rubbish. If it’s clean, they won’t.”

In the past two weeks Swale council has sent extra contractors to combat the problem.

A spokesman for the local authority said: “Our contractors carry out weekly clean-ups along this busy stretch of road, and last week - and the week before - had an additional crew working alongside the usual team picking up litter.

“Given the nature of the road, the safety of the crew is of paramount importance. Visibility needs to be good, so the weather at this time of year can sometimes mean crews are unable to safely work on this stretch.

“To help improve access so the crew can clear litter safely, we are working with the managing agent for the road to arrange vegetation to be cut back where it causes a hazard.

“We'll continue to monitor and put additional resource in wherever possible.”

A spokesman for Maidstone Borough Council, which is responsible for litter-picking between Stockbury and the bottom of Detling Hill, said it had not received any complaints about the A249.

She added: “We have recently looked at ways to safely clear laybys and verges along the A249 outside of peak traffic times and have already begun to clean the area as part of a rolling schedule of work each week.

“Where traffic management is needed, we work closely with Kent County Council to operate a schedule of verge and highway cleansing on roads over 40 miles per hour.

"Overnight road closures are put in place to ensure that each any every person working to keep our borough clean and tidy is doing so safely.”