Leamington pub's ongoing battle with litter - and McDonald's

Sited right next door to the Mcdonald’s in Queensway, The Waterside Inn is suffering from an “ever growing problem of the Drive-Thru’s customers using the pub’s car park to sit and eat their food and then discard the wrapping and packaging out of their car windows”.

In an attempt to combat this, the pub has called in a private company which issues fines of £60 - which can raise to £100 if not paid before a deadline - to those who are not genuine patrons.

Motorists who drive away from the car park without having registered their vehicle’s registration at the bar will be hit with a fine.

The pub itself makes no money from this but Nicholas Fayolle, business developer for the pub which was taken over from the Stonegate Pub Company ten weeks ago, has said that it is part of attempts for the business, which has struggled in the past, to improve its image and fortunes .

Mr Fayolle said: “We feel as though McDonald’s have, for a number of years, relied on our car park as an overflow to a site that we don’t feel is big enough and doesn’t have the capacity for the footfall that goes through there.

“There were excessive speeds being driven through our car park and litter being dropped out of car windows which does not set a good image for this place which we are trying to turn around.

“We don’t feel Mcdonald’s is making enough of an effort to kerb the litter problems in general, let alone its neighbour’s private land next door.

“We’re just trying to get our car park back and have it litter-free for our own customers.”

As we reported, Clean Up Britain launched its Now or Never anti-litter campaign in Leamington last week and Mr Fayolle said he is interested in the pub playing a part in that.

He said: “The campaign caught my eye and I wanted to know if we can get involved in some way and also see if we could shed a bit of light on and the issues that we have faced since we have been here.”

Mr Fayolle is hoping to relaunch the pub in the summer as a popular canalside venue with emphasis on its attractive beer garden.

He also wants to contribute to cleaning up the environment around the pub including the canal tow path where he believes McDonald’s is also a major cause of litter.

John Read, founder of Clean Up Britain, said: “We’re delighted with the amazing response we’ve had from people in Leamington towards the launch of our Now or Never anti-litter behavioural change campaign.

“There are well over 40 campaign partners already, although it’s very disappointing that McDonald’s haven’t joined this community campaign.

“They give the impression that the ‘community’ is important to them, but won’t join this campaign in helping to stop people littering the community. This seems inexplicable given that their branded litter lies strewn virtually all over Leamington.”

In response to the litter issue , a McDonald’s spokeswoman said: “As a business it is of the utmost important to us be a good neighbour and we are committed to playing our part in tackling rubbish, which includes our long-standing support of various Keep Britain Tidy campaigns around the country.

“The restaurant team in our Europa Way restaurant has always conducted regular litter picks around the restaurant and will continue to do so.

“This Summer we will also be hosting a ‘Love Where You Live’ event which will see both of our Leamington Spa restaurants combining forces to tackle litter in the town.

“We will be contacting the Waterside Inn to discuss how we can work together to improve the situation moving forward.”

cleanupbritain.org