TOURIST LITTER BLAMED ON LOCALS

CRUMBRIA: 6.03.2026

CLEARLY desperate for a front page story this week, a sleepy Penrith snoozepaper has tried to convince readers that Westmorland & Furness is EIGHTH in England’s household waste league table.

“WASTE FIGURES PUT COUNCIL AREA AMONG THE WORST” thundered the Slumberland & Westmoreland Imperilled (below).

(Shurely shome mishtake? W&F is the most sparsely populated unitary council area in the country. Appearing in England’s top 10 waste hotspots should have triggered at least one raised eyebrow on the local rag.)

The article said “each person” in the Council area produces 420.2kg of waste a year.

With Westmorland & Furness having a population of less than 250,000 – journalistic alarm bells should have been ringing.

They didn’t.

It was not until paragraph 12 of 20 that readers were let in on the secret.

The area’s waste figures also include street bins, park litter, public waste bins and rubbish from visitor destinations.

In other words: tourists!

Given that W&F is home to the Lake District National Park — its placement in the top 10 would therefore not come as a surprise to many readers at all.

What’s that saying? Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

And who knew tourists created litter?

The alleged newspaper should have realised that the area’s figures have been skewed by millions of annual visitors staying in Airbnbs and short-term holiday lets who stock up on arrival, then bin anything they don’t want to drive home.

And could they also be ramped up by Appleby Horse Fair and Kendal Calling, which create a litter armageddon?

Instead of delving deeper and finding the area’s rightful place in the waste league table, the paper mildly wagged its finger in the direction of its dwindling readership, telling them: “Buy only what you need, consider second-hand alternatives and reduce food waste.”