A WORCESTER resident has hit out at the state of the high street - saying litter-strewn scenes like these pictured here are becoming a common sight.

Worcester News reader Peter Jenner, who lives in Shrub Hill, says he is so disgusted by the "constant littering" in the city that he has started taking pictures of it and sharing them on social media.

In one of the photographs, which Mr Jenner says were taken on Sunday, July 31, a shopping trolley has been dumped and food waste can be seen spread across the High Street.

Another shows several seagulls in the area, attracted to the mess.

"Gulls ripped the black bags apart, and the litter was blowing about in the wind," Mr Jenner said. "It is disgusting - the gulls are a real nuisance.

"What you see in the pictures is common around Worcester."

Worcester City Council says the high street is swept and cleaned every day and that anyone caught littering will be prosecuted.

Mr Jenner says he believes the problem stems from traders and businesses putting black bags of rubbish out on to the streets.

But Worcester BID, which represents a host of businesses in the city, says that is not the case.

Worcester BID also organised the Worcester Foodie Festival, which took place on the weekend when Mr Jenner took his photos.

A Worcester BID spokesman said: "We have successfully worked together with Worcester City Council on the additional provision of bins for stallholders and visitors, as well as providing additional sweeping and litter picking services throughout the festival.

"After the stallholders vacated the event area we have completed a final litter pick and put any remaining waste, whether in bags or lose, into bins provided.

"The waste strewn across the street does not look to us like typical stallholder or stage waste - this may potentially be a case of fly tipping.

"We are disappointed to hear that this unrelated, coincidental waste incident is now being linked to the event.

"One of the Worcester BID projects, to ensure an attractive city centre environment, is the provision of gull-proof sacks that local businesses can use to deposit their waste into until collected by various independent trade waste companies.

"These gull-proof sacks have proven to be very effective and help to keep the city centre much tidier.

"Due to demand by businesses, we have distributed further gull-proof sacks to BID levy paying businesses in the city centre in recent weeks."

A Worcester City Council spokesman said: "Our street cleansing team sweep, clean and remove litter in High Street every day, starting their rounds at 5.20am.

"The city council has the power to issue fixed penalty notices or to enforce the environmental protection act for littering offences.

"However in both cases there needs to be clear evidence of who the perpetrator is in order to take action.

"In the case which Mr Jenner highlighted, it is unlikely that there was such evidence.

"Disposing of litter responsibly is everyone’s responsibility."