A tenacious Kendal resident is locked in a battle with local government officials over their 'persistent failures' to keep the town's streets clear of litter and graffiti.

John Studholme has complained to South Lakeland District Council about the problem of litter throughout the town and has taken the authority to court twice to argue that it was failing in its duty under the Environmental Protection Act to clean up the litter.

He has failed in both efforts, but is not to be deterred.

"I pick up litter every day in or around Kendal," he said.

"Last Sunday I went on a litter pick organised by New Hutton Parish Council. 

"We each took a particular stretch of road and I chose Hayclose Lane from the Station Inn to the Sedbergh Road to the north, a distance of just over one mile.

"Two days later I picked up litter on the same stretch - I collected 40 pieces of litter dropped over two days over one mile.

"Every hour a person is dropping a piece of litter on roughly a mile of road.

"In Kendal when I have picked up litter around the Birdcage at the top of Finkle Street I have watched someone drop a cigarette butt every 10 minutes.

"I have been picking up litter every day since August 14th last year - I have reported the pickups with photos to SLDC officers including the Chief Executive Lawrence Conway and successive Leaders Giles Archibald and Jonathan Brook and the MP Tim Farron.

"I have had no response from any of them."

He took the Council to court on January 10 this year but lost the case so he appealed to the District Judge.

He lost again and has now been told to pay £4,925 in costs and fees.

He said he intended to appeal to the High Court.

 A spokesperson for SLDC responded: "On March 29, the District Judge found in the Council’s favour and refused to grant Mr Studholme’s application for a litter abatement order.

"The District Judge found that the Council had acted promptly to clear the litter when notified and was satisfied that the Council complied with its duty under s89 of the EPA 1990.

"The District Judge found that as the Council had evidenced compliance with its duty Mr Studholme should not have proceeded with his complaint to the Magistrates Court.

"The fact that Mr Studholme did proceed meant significant unnecessary costs were incurred and public money was spent on defending the case – money the Council has a duty to recover.

"Mr Studholme has not been "charged" £4,925.

"This amount is the Council's legal costs incurred in defending the claim, which Mr Studholme has been ordered to pay, by the Court.

"Responses to Mr Studholme's emails and photographs sent to Council officers throughout, and prior to the commencement of the legal process, were replied to on behalf of the Council by the Council’s legal department.

"South Lakeland District Council is responsible for removing litter from pavements, streets and public land.

"We encourage people not to drop litter and to use our litter bins, or to take rubbish home with them.

"Residents are encouraged to report locations of litter, whether they witnessed the litter being dropped and details of any individuals or vehicles involved through the easy-to-use form on our website at www.southlakeland.gov.uk.

"Street Scene staff take their responsibilities very seriously and work extremely hard to keep South Lakeland tidy, and respond to reports of littering and flytipping as quickly as possible.

"Our locality teams support local community groups that are planning to undertake litter collections in their areas, in addition to the litter cleansing activities that our teams undertake, and we provide bags, litter pickers, protective equipment and arrange for disposal of the materials collected.

"We work with community groups on the Keep Britain Tidy spring clean campaigns and promote messages on civic pride and responsibility in regard to litter and fly-tipping.

"For context, the street cleansing service sweeps over 100 kilometres of highway every day, and empties over 870 litter bins at strategic locations around the district. 

"In 2020/21, 3,464 tonnes of waste was collected from street cleansing and litter bins.

"At high profile locations, such as town centres and those popular with visitors the litter bins are emptied several times a day at busy periods."