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Original poster

London and surrounding area has become so unkempt

142 replies

GrubbyTowns · 21/04/2026 16:58

Rubbish strewn everywhere. All the verges full of cans, takeout detritus.
London and the southeast generally just seems so unkempt to where it was a few years ago even.
Just came back from a trip to Liverpool and the contrast was incredible. A busy city but so clean!
Why is this?

OP posts:
FuriousFire · 21/04/2026 18:08

My London council is great. We still have weekly bin collections for everything. Trees regularly pollarded. Roads resurfaced. Every six months we get a community skip on our road for people to dump their large items. We can’t complain. Some people are still shits with litter but I don’t think any council can fight that.

YYURYYUCICYYUR4ME · 21/04/2026 18:06

NE Hampshire here, some of our areas are sadly neglected. Highways and verges are full of rubbish. One area I travel through regularly, has had the same tyre debris for at least the last six years!!

WhitegreeNcandle · 21/04/2026 18:02

BIWI · 21/04/2026 17:42

Sorry but that's just not true.

All you're doing with your post is adding to the Reform/Right wing narrative that London is falling apart.

More like people are just becoming so uncaring about their local area. I live in a farm in the south and regularly litter pick the end of our drive. It’s disgusting and getting so much worse.

BIWI · 21/04/2026 17:59

I didn't say that you voted Reform @GrubbyTowns - but posts like yours certainly echo their narrative, designed to undermine faith in the mayor, who - strangely enough - is Muslim.

CeciliaMars · 21/04/2026 17:59

I live in the South East commuter belt. The level of rubbish is insane - grass verges and the sides of roads / motorways are covered by it. I have been to Spain and Poland recently, and neither of them seem to have the same problem. It's really depressing isn't it.

DancingLions · 21/04/2026 17:57

In my borough they do regular street cleaning and have a dedicated service to report fly tipping and things are removed quickly. I've lived here for over 20 years and its not got any worse at all. Arguably better. Yes some areas are grim but London is a big city.

Original poster
GrubbyTowns · 21/04/2026 17:52

BIWI · 21/04/2026 17:42

Sorry but that's just not true.

All you're doing with your post is adding to the Reform/Right wing narrative that London is falling apart.

I don’t vote Reform. Or Tory. London and the Southeast is a vast area run by different councils. The rubbish built up while the Tory’s were in power and I haven’t seen it cleaned up under Labour.

OP posts:
BIWI · 21/04/2026 17:42

Sorry but that's just not true.

All you're doing with your post is adding to the Reform/Right wing narrative that London is falling apart.

Original poster
GrubbyTowns · 21/04/2026 17:37

BIWI · 21/04/2026 17:25

So you're familiar with all of London are you @GrubbyTowns?

I can assure you that where I live this isn't true at all. The council is hyper vigilant about street cleaning and preventing fly tipping.

Pretty good, my whole life plus work. I do notice the posher areas are kept better. The suburbs are a disgrace. Motorways full of rubbish.

OP posts:
Original poster
GrubbyTowns · 21/04/2026 17:35

Thechaseison71 · 21/04/2026 17:23

All of Liverpool ? Even the outskirts?
It tends to be the centre of places are kept nice and the outskirts not so much

Show quote history

Travelled into the suburbs and also pretty good, poorer yes. But clean.

OP posts:
BIWI · 21/04/2026 17:25

So you're familiar with all of London are you @GrubbyTowns?

I can assure you that where I live this isn't true at all. The council is hyper vigilant about street cleaning and preventing fly tipping.

Thechaseison71 · 21/04/2026 17:23

GrubbyTowns · 21/04/2026 16:58

Rubbish strewn everywhere. All the verges full of cans, takeout detritus.
London and the southeast generally just seems so unkempt to where it was a few years ago even.
Just came back from a trip to Liverpool and the contrast was incredible. A busy city but so clean!
Why is this?

All of Liverpool ? Even the outskirts?
It tends to be the centre of places are kept nice and the outskirts not so much

Original poster
GrubbyTowns · 21/04/2026 17:10

SunMoonandChocolate · 21/04/2026 17:03

Interestingly it seems the same in the South, as lots of the towns here are not only covered in rubbish, but also Councils appear to have been neglecting the grass verges etc., for a long time now, so everything looks really grubby and down at heel. I'm interested to hear that it's not like that in Liverpool, I wonder why?

I don’t know. There are run down bits but compared with London’s run down bits they’re sparkling.

I was there on Saturday, hens and stags all over the place. Early Sunday was pristine. Took a bus all over the city and suburbs and seemed relatively well kept everywhere. Lots of pride in the area from what I could see. Is it just an over population thing?

OP posts:
Original poster
GrubbyTowns · 21/04/2026 17:07

Selloonacup · 21/04/2026 16:59

Doesn't fit with my experience at all. Great first post though!

What are you going on about? I’m name changed you numpty

OP posts:
SunMoonandChocolate · 21/04/2026 17:03

Interestingly it seems the same in the South, as lots of the towns here are not only covered in rubbish, but also Councils appear to have been neglecting the grass verges etc., for a long time now, so everything looks really grubby and down at heel. I'm interested to hear that it's not like that in Liverpool, I wonder why?

CookieCookies · 21/04/2026 17:03

It’s the case in my London borough it’s filthy, fly tipping everywhere and bags off rubbish everywhere and they never clean it, sofas beds and mattresses left on the street, black bags of rubbish everywhere ripped open.

Selloonacup · 21/04/2026 16:59

Doesn't fit with my experience at all. Great first post though!

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