The call comes just weeks after the council launched its new campaign – It’s Your Place – urging residents to respect their local community spaces.

Given ever-tightening budgets the council cannot do it alone. So, the campaign hopes to encourage everyone to help keep South Lanarkshire clean and tidy.

Councillor Robert Brown, the chair of the council’s Community and Enterprise Resources Committee said: “Our teams work hard to keep our communities clear of dumped litter and rubbish.

“Our ‘It’s your place’ campaign hopes to encourage everyone to take pride in their community and help by not throwing away rubbish. Please always use our road-side bins, your own household bins or our recycling centres. It really is that simple.”

Roadside litter is a serious and growing issue affecting all roads including trunk roads, motorways, urban and rural roads as well as lay-bys and exit entry roads to main roads. Litter levels are at an all-time high affecting all parts of the country despite litter campaigns and education in recent years.

And over the winter period, with high winds and adverse weather becoming more common, any waste that is not properly disposed of will end up going everywhere.

So please make sure you are putting the right stuff in your wheelie bins. Additional waste that cannot fit into your household bins can be taken to your nearest household waste and recycling centres. And if that’s not possible you can check out our bulk uplift service.

Please also go to our Fly-tipping pages for more information about helping keep your community clear from waste and how to report issues including large-scale dumping outside houses, next to wheelie bins or dropped around or near public litter bins.

Roadside litter has become one of the biggest issues in Scotland, that impacts on road safety, environmental and wildlife impacts as well as the economy. It also puts staff at serious risk who have to clean and remove the litter which can be extremely time consuming and costly.

The types of litter lifted include bottles and cans, fast food packaging including drinks cups and paper/plastic bags and cigarette related litter. It can also unfortunately include more unpleasant or dangerous items such as plastic bottles and bags containing human waste, parts from cars or lorries, discarded household items or items that have basically fallen from lorries.

Kevin Carr, the head of the council’s Facilities, Waste and Grounds Services, said: “So much time, money and resources are being wasted clearing up rubbish that could and should be disposed of using all the facilities that we provide.

“At a time when council budgets are under significant pressure, we need everyone in our communities to help by not discarding rubbish in the first place.

“We cannot tackle this problem alone, so, let’s all do our bit to help South Lanarkshire be the place we are proud to call home - “It’s your place”.