Leader comment: Littering and dog-fouling is trashing Scotland

Scotland is becoming less beautiful. For, according to the Keep Scotland Beautiful Campaign, littering, dog fouling and other local environmental problems are now at their highest levels in a decade.

One of the reasons, campaigners say, is the fall in the number of community wardens. A 10 per cent drop in their number has seen the overall amount of money collected from fines for such inconsiderate behaviour fall by nearly 40 per cent in just three years.

It seems hard to blame cash-strapped councils struggling the balance the books and keep more essential services in a fit state. But, whoever is responsible for this sad situation, we will certainly come to regret trashing the place where we live if we continue to do so.

One of the best things about Scotland is its natural beauty; even our cities have some pretty spectacular scenery.

So the people doing the littering and failing to deal with dog mess – and that includes dumping plastic bags full of faeces on the street or in hedges – need to clean up their act. If not, councils will need to rehire wardens to force them to do so.