LITTER louts have come under fire following a clean-up operation which revealed the extent of their anti-social behaviour.

Students from Manor College of Technology, Hartlepool, working with the borough council's Pride in Hartlepool officer, Ron Gosling, collected five sacks of rubbish in an hour from countryside beside the A179, near Hart Village.

Much of it appeared to have been simply thrown from vehicles parked in an adjacent lay-by, on a main approach route into Hartlepool, and the gateway to a popular five-mile circular walk.

Mr Gosling said: "We found parts of a chair, beer and coke cans and other general litter. People who dump this sort of rubbish really should think about the damage they are doing to the environment.

"A lot of travellers tend to stop at this lay-by for a break and it isn't helping our efforts to improve Hartlepool's image if the first thing they see is litter strewn all over the place. It isn't asking a lot for people to clean up after themselves."

The students worked on the clean-up as part of the Asdan Youth Awards, which aim to help youngsters develop teamwork, communication and presentational skills through environmental, sporting and other challenges