Visitors to a beauty spot near Swindon were “disgusted” to discover an overflow of rubbish which spoilt their picturesque views.

Martin Clark travelled 300 miles from Whitley Bay in North Tyneside, with his friends Martin and Janette Foo and cockapoo Archie, to walk The Ridgeway from Avebury to Buckinghamshire.

The group started their hike on Friday, May 26, and soon came to the car park and picnic area at Barbury Castle country park, just a few miles east of the historic landmark.

But they were shocked to find “around a dozen bins” overflowing, with litter and bags of dog poo strewn over the floor.

Mr Clark said: “We had the misfortune to arrive at the site and were met with the most vile, disgusting amount of litter we’ve seen in our lives.

“It was just disgusting, there is no other word for it. The bins were all absolutely full and looked like they hadn’t been emptied all year.

“I have never seen anything like it in my life.”

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald:

The 64-year-old added he was particularly disappointed the mess had marred such a “beautiful” site and was worried about the impact this could have on visitors to the county.

“To see this in a beauty spot was quite surprising”, he said. “It was like it had been forgotten about, to have all that rubbish in a beautiful area with tremendous views needs some action.

“It was simply awful. What do visitors from overseas think? What do locals think? One that I asked just seemed resigned to it. They'd probably given up asking.”

Mr Clark complained to both Swindon Borough Council and Wiltshire Council, who confirmed the responsibility for the park lay in Swindon.

While Mr Clark snapped a picture of the overloaded bins last Friday, Swindon Borough Council claimed that the influx of people into the country park over the bank holiday weekend had caused the overflow.

They added that the bins had now been emptied.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald: The overflowing bins at Barbury Castle country park

A spokesperson for the council said: “With the warm sunny weather over the spring bank holiday weekend, many residents and visitors were understandably keen to get out to explore Swindon’s fantastic country parks.

“It meant the litter bins were used much more than normal, but our team have emptied these and tidied any overflow.

“We would always encourage people to play their part in keeping the parks tidy by taking their litter home when they can see a bin is full.”