Litter and dead animals have been removed after piling up for more than two weeks on the side of a busy A-road.

The issue was first reported by Goudhurst resident Laura Collins late last month, who travels along the A21 to Tunbridge Wells almost every day.

Laura says problem has finally been resolved but not after numerous calls and reminders to the council.

She was told by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council the rubbish and small dead animals, including foxes, would be removed on Friday, March 17.

"I noticed this was becoming a big issue between the end of February beginning of March," she said.

"So I contacted my parish council and my local councillor around March 4.

"I didn't get anything from anybody initially, apart from my councillor, David Knight, who was very nice and said he would look into it.

"In the meantime, I contacted everybody I could think of, including Greg Clarke MP and the CEO of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, and found out that it was actually TWBC's problem.

"When I rang them it was actually ridiculous. I rang four times, spoke to four different people and no one could tell me anything.

"When I finally managed to get a few answers, the person from the council said that yes it is their problem but they couldn't clean it up because they cannot shut the highway.

"This simply doesn't make sense because I only managed to take pictures of the litter because there is a layby there. So there was a way to get at least some of it removed."

Laura described the "ridiculous" amount of rubbish, which included bottles, buckets, plastic bags and even dead foxes and other small animals.

She added: "Luckily there is some resolution now because I was told the litter and the dead animals would be removed today.

"But I think nothing would have been done haven't been for me and all the other people who kept insisting and reporting to the council to get it done. I don't believe they would have cleaned it otherwise.

'It was just an insanely ridiculous amount of litter'

"It was just an insanely ridiculous amount of litter. It was not like this before. It just kept getting worse and worse.

"And it's not just rubbish, there are dead animals too, like foxes and smaller animals that are just lying there on the side of the road."

Goudhurst Parish Councillor David Knight, explained that only part of the rubbish was removed on Friday, but confirmed that other removals have been scheduled and eventually everything will be cleaned up.

He said: "I've had several emails and correspondence from the residents about the state of the A21 and the litter and the general mess on there.

"We’ve always believed this was a KCC matter and it was down to them to deal with that road.

"But we then found out it’s a Tunbridge Wells Borough Council issue because the A21 is not classified by KCC and National Highways as a trunk road. So it is down to the local borough to do something.

"When we found that out we immediately chased that up with the officers at the council and they were very helpful. I believe it was a matter of miscommunication with everyone.

"But like with anything with local government, these things take a little time. That’s why it hasn't been a quick process.

"Not everything has been removed yet, as there are many points with litter along the road. But we do have more timings scheduled to eventually clean everything up.

"I think what happened is there's just been a slow accumulation over the last few months and I think it's just one of these things that slipped through the net.

"But we are glad residents like Laura have raised the issue and we are on the way of getting everything sorted out."