A PRINCIPAL has been accused of having a “relaxed attitude to littering” by a man who filled two large bags with rubbish outside his school.

Walker Richard Smith picked up as much as he could carry outside The Wellington Academy, going from the bridge in Ludgershall towards Tidworth.

The school’s head, Mike Milner, said he was “disappointed” to hear the feedback but insisted staff did a lot to educate students on the issue.

Mr Smith said in a letter to Mr Milner: “I fear that the main culprits are children/students that attend your academy.

“On reaching your academy it was evident that you have a relaxed attitude to littering as the school and surrounds were also badly littered.

“You may not care about your school being litter bound, but I care about our village and surrounding area.

“Does anyone at Wellington try to educate the pupils on the effects of littering?

“If the children/students need some training on how to put litter in a bin I will gladly pop up and give a demonstration to them.

“Also, if there is not a marked improvement on the state of this area soon, any litter I pick on this route will be presented to you, so you can return it to the rightful owners.

“I am aware that other areas of Ludgershall are swimming in litter and dog poo, but if parents and teachers could explain the vileness of this behaviour we might have a chance to stamp it out.”

Mr Milner replied: “Obviously I am disappointed with what you have observed. I have no doubt that some of the litter will be due to our students, although I hope you accept that it won’t be all (it is a public path) and there is no way of determining how long the litter has been there.

“As far as relaxed attitudes to litter go, I completely refute that claim as we have dramatically improved the litter within the school by educating students on the importance of looking after their environment.

“Nevertheless, your email suggests that we have more work to do when they are walking home.”

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