Anger over litter and highways clutter after M5 Oldbury Viaduct works
A pile of litter, including broken signage, has been strewn across grass verges next to the M5 motorway junction in Oldbury.
An area by the side of Junction 2 island has been left in an "unsightly" state – with fallen road signs and rubbish visible.
It comes after a crash early last week left the damage, which Highways England bosses now committed to cleaning it up.
Tom Stokes, who drives past the rubbish when visiting his family in Wolverhampton, said: "It's not an excuse because of the roadworks taking place – people still have to use the motorway and network and drive past that on a daily basis.
"It shouldn't be an excuse, it should not be allowed to get that bad and it's been getting worse.
"It's just the M5 generally is quite disgusting – all the drains are being blocked by rubbish and they're overflowing.
"There's been no litter picks and the motorway has been closed overnight for a few nights and there's been time for them to do it."
Mark Round, spokesman for Highways England, said: "I have spoken to our man on the ground and it looks like there was a road traffic collision there.
"There was some damage to signs as a result and we are aware of it – and we will get it done and cleaned up in due course."
Highways chiefs have also called on people to take care of their litter as part of a scheme to ensure the motorway stays clean.
The site has seen plastic water bottles, along with cans and crisp wrappers discarded by motorists on top of the current damage.
Mr Round added: "Littering is a social problem across the country.
"Our priority is to keep the network safe and well maintained for road users and neighbouring communities.
"We strongly encourage road users to keep their litter until they reach a location where they can bin it or recycle it.”
The cost of collecting a bag of litter costs highway bosses around £40, the equivalent of fixing a pothole.
Highways England is working with partners, such as Keep Britain Tidy, to tackle the issue.
