Last week I wrote about the amount of litter and anti-social behaviour that was going on in the Lake District National Park.

Well, things don’t seem to be getting much better. A senior police officer in Cumbria has described some of the behaviour happening in the area as ‘outrageous’.

Last week’s edition included reports of damage to trees by fires and barbecues, littering and inconsiderate parking on roads.

This week, there have been reports of scores of people breaking lockdown rules by camping in the Lakes. Litter has been left in the national park and there have reportedly been some fires on summit cairns.

I walked towards Ferry Nab from the Glebe at Bowness at the weekend and was shocked at the amount of litter strewn across a field near Cockshott Point. It looked like many people had picnicked there and simply left their plastic bottles and food containers behind when they left.

Further along were some charred tree branches where someone had lit a fire or used the branches as a stand for a barbecue.

It is hard to credit what makes a minority of people behave in this way. Why does anyone think it is acceptable to simply leave their trash to litter the beautiful Lake District landscape?

Yes, cafes and restaurants have been closed so people have been tending to bring their own food to the national park. That’s fine – but they must then take the packaging and waste home with them. It really doesn’t take too much effort.

It’s just laziness, thoughtlessness or downright anti-social behaviour for people to dump their waste on the ground. Not only does it look unsightly, it is likely to harm wildlife, it’s unhygienic and it means other people have to pick it up, with the attendant risk of spreading infection including, potentially, Covid-19.

The police, national park rangers and other agencies have been carrying out regular patrols to try to educate people and remind them to plan ahead, take their litter home and respect the Lake District. That should not be necessary.

Everyone needs to think about others, rather than just themselves.

The whole country has been through – and continues to go through – a very difficult time. No-one should be making it worse by acting irresponsibly.