THIS is the mountain of rubbish collected from Scunthorpe's streets in just one day.

The image has been revealed as North Lincolnshire Council spent a record amount last year on clearing litter from the region's streets.

And there are serious concerns the bill will soar even higher this year unless action is taken.

Last year the authority cleared away 1,197 tonnes of discarded rubbish at a cost to the taxpayer of more than £449,597.

The main culprits were smokers, customers at take-away restaurants and sweet-eaters.

And more than 90 bags of rubbish were collected from the streets of Scunthorpe in just one day.

North Lincolnshire Council operates a zero tolerance policy on litter dropping and last year issued 35 fixed penalty notices to litterbugs. In 2008/09, 46 were issued.

PILING UP: The mountain of rubbish collected from the streets of Scunthorpe in one day.

Deputy council leader Councillor Len Foster said if litter-dropping continued at the same rate this year residents faced a further £12,000 increase in council tax due to rises in landfill tax.

Mr Foster, who is also the cabinet member for the environment, said the time had come for everyone to get behind a Keep North Lincolnshire Clean campaign.

He said: "Let's be honest the level of littering in some areas is not acceptable.

"If everyone took a little more time to challenge this thoughtless behaviour we would all benefit. Council taxpayers' money spent on dealing with litter could be spent in far more useful ways."

Last year the authority spent more than £97,000 disposing of the rubbish discarded by litter louts and fly-tippers and a further £352,000 on keeping the streets clean.

Litter hotspots include the tenfoots at the back of Frodingham Road, Scunthorpe, and land near to the Old Farmhouse pub at Gunness.

Mr Foster pointed out that in contrast only £63,000 was invested last year on plants, trees and shrubs.

He said: "In other words for every £1 spent on making the area looking nice, more than £7 is spent on tidying it up.

"The figures should be the other way round. And they could be, if everyone played their part.

"Litter and fly-tipping should be everyone's concern. Too many within our society think it's simply okay to discard rubbish wherever they wish. It's simply not good enough."

Support for the North Lincolnshire campaign has come from the Keep Britain Tidy organisation, which had called on residents to do their bit to clean up their own neighbourhoods.

Chief executive Phil Barton said: "There seems to be an attitude of 'it's only one cigarette end' or 'it's only one burger bag'.

"All those individual items mount up to an estimated two-million pieces of litter a day dropped in England.

"It is time for everyone in this country to clean up their act. A change in everyone's behaviour will make this country a cleaner, greener and a better place to live in.

"It does not require a great deal of effort on anyone's part, just a little bit of thought and a little bit of effort on everyone's part makes a big difference."