BOTTLES of urine were among more than 12 tonnes of rubbish removed from the A27.

They were picked up during a series of clean-ups of the Brighton section of the road, carried out by the city council and Highways England.

The two organisations worked together over five nights and cleared the busy road and its grassy verges of 12.5 tonnes of rubbish – equivalent to the weight of eight family sized cars.

Councillor Anne Pissaridou, chairwoman of the environment, transport and sustainability committee, said: “Our Cityclean staff and Highways England have done a great job.

“A total of 500 bags of litter were collected, plus all the other waste like metal signs and debris, showing the reality of how much waste people are throwing from their cars or dumping on the grassed areas.

“Removing the waste from the verges costs the council, and therefore council tax payers, a lot of money.

“We can do our best, but keeping verges clean and litter free is everyone’s responsibility and that means people must stop flytipping and throwing rubbish out of their cars. It’s irresponsible and antisocial.”

The rubbish included hundreds of different plastic items, TVs, metal signs, disposable drinking cups and other litter that people had either thrown from their vehicle or flytipped or that had been blown on to the grass verges.

There were dozens of bottles of urine thrown on to the verges by drivers not wanting to stop and find a public toilet.

Cllr Pissaridou praised the A27 Clean Up Campaign group, formed to highlight the issue and raise awareness of the amount of roadside litter and debris left along the road.

She said: “The group has been fantastic at highlighting the issue of litter and rubbish on the road, both at a local and national level. We will continue to work with them and Highways England to tackle the issue of A27 littering and flytipping.”

The night-time clean ups took place on March 5, 6, 9, 11 and 12 on the Brighton and Hove stretch of the road, which runs from Falmer junction to the Southwick tunnel. They covered a total of 13.6 miles.

The crews worked from 10pm until 4am, when the traffic was quieter.

The council receives no funding for clearing the verges of litter and rubbish so residents pick up the cost.

The A27 is owned by Highways England, which is a Government company. It is responsible for maintenance of the road plus the grass cutting on the verges and central reservations.

Anup Shrestha, of Highways England, said: “Litter is an important issue for Highways England, it’s not only unsightly and a risk to wildlife but clearing it from the roadside exposes workers to significant risk.”