Bexley Council are urging people to stop "needlessly dumping rubbish in parks" after "thoughtless visitors" have caused a major spike in littering accorss the borough.

Extra cleaning crews had been brought in at Danson Park, and half a tonne of litter was collected in just one weekend at Foots Cray Meadows, the council say.

The council is urging people to stop needlessly chucking rubbish on the ground, and instead dispose of their waste responsibly.

Cllr Peter Craske, in charge of places at the council, said Danson Park had been voted as London's best park - "not London's best place for people to chuck their litter on the grass."

“During this COVID19 pandemic, we have doubled the number of crews working there, but it is taking them 8-10 hours to not just empty the 62 litter bins in the park, but to clean up the litter that has needlessly been chucked on the ground.

“Our parks team have been working very long hours through this crisis to keep our parks and open spaces looking good for people to enjoy.

The council recognise that the recent relaxing of government social distancing guidelines and the nice weather have seen parks and open spaces become busier than ever.

But the influx of park users has seen littering spike dramatically. Over the weekend of May 30 & 31, the council collected nearly 80 bags of rubbish - half a tonne - at Foots Cray Meadows which had all been left behind by visitots.

At Danson Park, extra crews have been brought in, and the rubbish left behind over the weekends usually fills two 1.5 tonne trucks on both days.

Last month, a group of hairdressers from Crayford decided to take the littering into their own hands and spent hours cleaning up Danson Park, amongst others, and filling hundreds of bags of rubbish.

Bexley Council asserts that it has zero tolerance on littering, and on the spot fixed penalty notices of £150 will be issued to anyone caught littering or not clearing up after their dogs.

Cllr Craske added: "We have had tremendous support from friends groups, residents and councillors to helping clean up other peoples’ mess, and I want to thank them all for their help and support.

“If people want to join this community effort, I hope they will join our new Parks Volunteer Service.”