The nasty habit of littering is jeopardising Devizes’ reputation as Wiltshire’s hidden gem, the town council was told on Tuesday.

Victoria Road resident Jeremy Cross attended the full council meeting to urge councillors to sign up to his campaign to rid the town of litter.

Mr Cross said: “I am appalled that otherwise nice, decent people are prepared to leave litter lying outside their houses. They seem to be blind to it.”

Mr Cross and three of his neighbours, Philippa Morgan, Jo Tanner and Liz Theobald, regularly form a litter collecting team and are shocked at the amount of rubbish that collects between each foray.

He said: “The other day I went to Sedgefield Gardens and I filled a bag with rubbish. I had cleared it only two days before. I picked up 200 cigarette butts.”

Mr Cross is writing to primary schools to see if he can recruit their support for his campaign and he urged the town council to put pressure on supermarkets and fast food outlets to co-operate.

He says that larger towns have already taken measures against the problem.

He said: “A few residents of one town, completely depressed by the dreadful litter problem, started an internet campaign, consisting of photos of the problem areas.

“This led to an almost immediate response from the local authority in an attempt to improve the situation.”

The town council is aware of the problem. Park staff regularly fill dozens of black bin liners with rubbish left by mainly young people on Friday and Saturday nights.

Mayor Pete Smith thanked Mr Cross and Mrs Theobald for expressing their views. He said: “Littering is a great problem and we should be looking at it.”

Coun Charles Winchcombe asked if the subject could be put on the agenda for discussion on October 12.

Anyone found guilty of littering is liable to a fixed penalty fine of £50 but convictions are rare.

Inspector Andrew Noble of Devizes police said: “I know that two fixed penalty tickets were issued during the carnival for littering. Many (tickets) are not littering in the traditional sense and a significant number are in fact for people urinating in the street.”