South Ayrshire’s streets are facing a “litter emergency", according to a shock study by Keep Scotland Beautiful.

Their annual survey of litter strewn areas across the country found 12.5 per cent of South Ayrshire’s streets were “unacceptably dirty”.

That’s a rise from just 3.2 per cent back in 2011. However, South Ayrshire Council said new measures were being brought in - and results were already proving positive.

Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) said it did not seek to name and shame local authorities which struggled with rubbish on their streets, saying the entire country is facing a “litter emergency” .

Figures showed 11.6 per cent of neighbouring East Ayrshire’s streets were found to be unacceptably dirty, compared with just 6.3 per cent back in 2011.

And in North Ayrshire, the figures were the third worst in Scotland at  15.4 per cent, compared with 3.7 per cent in 2011.

The worst authorities for littered streets were Glasgow (15.8 per cent) and Inverclyde (16.1 per cent).

The study showed that areas of deprivation were the worst hit by the litter problem.

A spokesperson for South Ayrshire Council responded: "We have recently reviewed our street cleansing performance.

"Over the last year, we have introduced Locality Hit Squads, re-zoning our sweeping areas and a public facing initiative (LitterLotto), to ensure our neighbourhoods are kept litter free.

"Our first survey for the year has resulted in a score of 93.1 per cent and we aim to maintain this in future.”

For decades, KSB has been carrying out its gold-standard comprehensive monitoring, called Local Environmental Audit and Management Systems or LEAMS, on behalf of councils..

Inspectors count rubbish, everything from cigarette butts, crisp packets and tin cans to fly-tipped mattresses and fridges.

Barry Fisher, KSB’s chief executive, explained: “There is a litter emergency in Scotland. And our charity’s evidence shows that litter levels are worse in high density urban areas where lots of people live, work and visit.

“We can see that litter levels correlate with our own actions - our unsustainable consumption of stuff, our patterns of behaviour where we live, shop and visit, and the choices we make when we dispose of items.”

He stressed the KSB survey was intended to support councils, to identify where problems are worst.

Mr Fisher added: “Local authorities can and should do more to tackle litter and waste, but there has been a decline in public resources available across the board,” he said. 

“We can blame the local authorities, or we can help.  And I think we all, producers, businesses and individuals included, have a responsibility to act and not to make the situation worse.

“We now also have three consecutive years of data highlighting that the majority of people in Scotland believe that litter is a problem in their area (70 per cent) and across Scotland as a whole (90 per cent.

“This situation is not acceptable, which is why we are committed to playing our part in supporting Scotland’s Litter and Flytipping Strategy and the Action Plan for 2023/24 – including leading on engaging and empowering communities through the creation of an online litter hub and a new litter education programme.

“The climate, nature and litter emergencies are all interlinked; with unsustainable consumption at the heart of all three. 

“We urge everyone to play their part and support our efforts to keep Scotland beautiful.”