A woman is calling on people to show more respect for Norwich’s Mousehold Heath and take their litter home with them after seeing a sharp increase in the amount of rubbish left in the area.

Eastern Daily Press:

Louise Wade, from Norwich, who regularly walks her dog on Mousehold Heath, said levels of litter on the heath had become “unacceptable” during lockdown.

The 51-year-old said the rubbish, which has included children’s nappies, bottles, and general waste, had become so bad she had taken to turning her dog walks into litter picks.

Now, Mrs Wade is calling on visitors to respect the space and its wildlife, and take their litter home with them so the heath could be enjoyed by everyone.

She said; “I have been collecting litter every day, just walking up there and doing my bit. It just looks a mess after a couple of sunny days, it’s not really acceptable.

“In this time that we have had, I feel that the world is trying to recover itself and maybe people could start taking notice of that.”

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Mrs Wade, who along with her husband has been regularly walking on the heath for four years, said there had always been some litter, but that levels had rocketed during lockdown and since restrictions had eased, allowing people to unlimited time outside.

“We have noticed a lot more people on the heath that we have never seen before,” she said.

Mrs Wade said one of the most upsetting finds had been used nappies.

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She said: “Who changes a child’s nappy and leaves it on the heath? Dogs like to eat stuff like that and they can get ill, it’s just disgusting.”

She said she felt a large part of the problem was picnickers visiting the heath and not taking their rubbish home with them.

“If you bring it with you, take it home and stop messing up a beautiful area because we all appreciate and use it. We just want everybody to be able to walk around and let it be pretty. If people could just show a little bit more awareness,” she said.