The moment that two drivers decided to pull their car over and fly-tip unwanted rubbish at the side of the M6 was caught on revealing CCTV footage.
And it was this exact CCTV footage that landed them in trouble with the police.
The culprits were travelling northbound through Staffordshire when they decided to pull into an emergency layby area to empty food packets and other rubbish from several bin bags – but unfortunately, they failed to make the clean getaway they’d likely hoped for as eagle-eyed control room staff at Highways England were watching them on CCTV.
The team quickly notified Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG), who then managed to track down the offenders and escort them back to the layby to tidy up their mess.
“This was a blatant and reckless abuse of one of our designated emergency areas which are there to help people in the event of just that, an emergency.” said Frank Bird, Senior Network Planner at Highways England.
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“We watched the whole incident unfold on our CCTV system in our control room.
“[We] then quickly passed it to the police who were able to stop the vehicle and escort them safely back to the emergency area to tidy up their mess”.
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The police have confirmed that the rubbish being dumped was mainly things like takeaway wrappings and plastic bottles, and along with “a stern word” by officers, the culprits details have also been forwarded to Environmental Health officers for recorded history in the event that of any future incidents occurring.
The incident – which took place on 28 March – is also being used by Highways England as a timely warning about the dangers of littering, which the authority says “puts our workforce at risk” when they have to go out and collect it.
Highways England is calling on drivers to “be part of the pick” and join them in doing their bit to reduce litter levels on the nation’s motorways as part of the Great British Spring Clean 2021.
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12,000 bags of litter were collected from England’s motorway network during last year’s campaign.
“We’re urging road users to save litter for the bin.” said Freda Rashdi, Head of Customer and Operational Requirements at Highways England.
“Litter picking costs time and money and doing this diverts resources that could be used to improve the network [so] if people didn’t drop litter in the first place, it wouldn’t need to be picked up.”
Featured Image – gov.uk / Highways England
UK News
Scouting For Girls on Chesney Hawkes, Manchester gigs, Old Trafford and new tour
In case you missed it, British boyband and pop-rockers Scouting For Girls have announced a 20-date UK tour for early next year.
They’re already planning potential set lists for the tour already including some very special surprises as well as an entire brand new album.
Lead vocalist Roy Stride reminisces on life in a boyband, career highlights and just how excited he is to play Manchester once again.
After playing at Manchester Cathedral earlier this year, the boys are coming back to one of Manchester’s city centre music venues for a 15-year anniversary tour for their sophomore LP, Everybody Wants To Be On TV.
With the announcement of a new tour, can we expect any new music to coincide with this?
We have announced a new album that will come out after our tour. This tour is all about celebrating the second album, we’re going to slip in maybe one or two new songs into the setlist as we go, though.
How excited are you to be coming back to Manchester after the reception of your cathedral gig earlier this year?
That Manchester Cathedral gig was like it, I was gonna say biblical, but it really, it really, like, it was an amazing place to play it and it, it was unlike any gig we’d done before. Audience participation and people singing along works so well in a cathedral.
It really was a great feeling.
Are there any songs that you’ve put out on Everybody Wants To Be On TV that have grown on you over time or become your favourite all these years later?
There’s a song on there called ‘Posh Girls’ which I still can’t believe we put on the record, but it’s so ridiculous and fun, you know, that’s probably a real favourite of mine. It’s a real live favourite too.
Scouting for Girls are heading to O2 Apollo in Manchester early next year.Credit: Press Shot
This time round you’re playing O2 Apollo and in the past you’ve played multiple venues in our city centre, which has been your favourite?
Night and Day Cafe and O2 Apollo but we’ve even played old Trafford. We played in between a football or rugby game, that was pretty epic.
There’s a video which went round our band and crew WhatsApp group of the first time we played [O2 Apollo] in 2010, like when the album first came out.
We played the Royal Albert Hall the night before with these trumpet players, and they got really drunk and ended up staying on the tour bus with us. The trumpet players weren’t supposed to be there, but we hid them in the Manchester crowd and got them to play this fanfare intro.
It was really bad because they were just incredibly hung over, it was all over the place and our guitarists’ were just filming it but it’s still a real core memory for me.
It’s not just Manchester you’re stopping off at either, you’re playing a 20 date UK tour, how are you feeling ahead of playing a tour this big?
I love traveling around the country. I love being on a tour bus. I love getting a show really good. Our shows are quite fluid and they change, and the setlists change, but when you get really tight on tour it’s a magical place because you go on stage and you know, whatever happens, it’s going to be amazing.
And in fact, the weirdest stuff that happens, whether I end up in the crowd or the balcony, doing a conga – it’ll be a great night every night.
On your album you have a song titled ‘Michaela Strachan’, you all met for the first time last year at your Shepherd’s Bush show – Have you considered the potential of her joining you on stage during this song?
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Maybe. I don’t know, however, I’m quite a good friend of Chesney Hawkes, who was just in the Big Brother house, and he was supposed to play a couple of songs last tour.
He was going to pop up and play like ‘The One and Only’ at one of our shows last year and we couldn’t make it happen because our guitarist ended up having a baby early and we didn’t have enough time to do it. I think we will have to play ‘Michaela Strachan’ on tour, though.
You have a song titled ‘Elvis Ain’t Dead’ named after the rock ‘n’ roll legend, besides the Memphis icon, who are your favourite music legends?
I’ve got a holy trinity: The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The [Rolling] Stones, everything goes back to those bands for me.
I also like REM I’d love for them to get back together. They were one of the first bands I saw and when they split up I honestly mourned when they split us up, I was depressed for like two weeks. Their last album was so good.
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They’ve done a few shows now so I don’t whether they’ll get back together, but that is definitely something I would love to see.
With this tour celebrating the remarkable 15 year anniversary of Everyone Wants To Be On TV, are there any songs off this project you wish fans showed more attention to when the album initially came out?
There was a song called ‘Take A Chance’ which was the last single, I hadn’t listened to the album for many years but going back and listening to it properly there’s some really good moments on it.
You spoke on social media about your single ‘The Place We Used To Meet’ and the album of the same name being very personal to you. Did fans respond the same way they did to your first few records?
It was a slightly different record. I suppose the songs were a bit more like this inner love song in terms of being more introspective, a bit more ballady. We still had an amazing response to it and we’re really, really proud of that album. But I don’t think it had like a banger like our first records.
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If you could pick one song off The Place We Used To Meet that each of you connects to the most, what would it be and why?
Glow. It was one of the singles and it’s all about how I sort of met my wife and how we met in Tokyo, got engaged, went back to Tokyo and I proposed to her. I went and did a video [for ‘Glow’] in Tokyo too. So it’s really special.
I think we’re working out what songs we’re going to put in the festival set but I think that’s still got to be in there.
Have there been any moments in your career that have made you feel like ‘The Luckiest Boy In The World’?
‘This Ain’t A Love Song’, because it went to number one and we got to play ChristmasTop of the Pops. It was a massive thing for us – that was definitely a bucket list moment.
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We also made Pete, our drummer, wear a Santa costume and told him we were all going to dress up, then we walked out the dressing rooms and he was the only one in an outfit, so he’s just there with this whole Santa costume and beard set while we’re just dressed looking normal.
To this day, he can’t prove that he was actually on Top of the Pops because it just looks like a guy with a massive beard.
Scouting for Girls are heading out on tour to celebrate 15 years of ‘Everybody Wants To Be On TV’.
Despite a rocky opening month or so, Manchester’s Co-op Live made the ultimate instant recovery and has now been named the number one arena not just in the UK but all of Europe.
Manc music venues being best in class? Sounds about right.
Yes, even despite some obstacles, delays and early hiccups, Co-op Live‘s debut year as a live music and indoor entertainment venue has seen it beat out the likes of the long-established and iconic O2 in London to take the top spot.
The inaugural 12 months of the arena have not only seen it welcome all manner of music legends, as well as live sporting events such as the UFC and WWE, but the arena welcomed more visitors than any other venue across the continent during that time.
Names to have graced the industry-leading stage so far include Liam Gallagher, Stevie Nicks and Take That; Peter Kay, Elbow, Sabrina Carpenter, Paul McCartney, and so many more.
Commenting on the successful start, Tim Leiweke (CEO and chairman of the Oak View Groupbehind the venue) said: “Our ambition was to bring the world’s best music arena to one of the world’s greatest music cities and we are thrilled with the reaction from fans and artists alike over this past year.
“Co-op Live’s revolutionary acoustics investment has already attracted some of the world’s biggest artists and events to Manchester, with many more to come. And our sustainability commitment will ensure we remain responsible contributors to Manchester and the planet for years to come.
“We believe that amazing venues can transform cities for the better, and Co-op Live has done just that.”
It’s fair to say we’ve had some truly unforgettable nights in there already – and that’s just in the last month alone. Case and point:
With a continued commitment to achieving ‘Net Zero’ status too, the venue’s carbon reduction technologies, solar panels, heat pumps and rainwater harvesting, not to mention the recently refreshed CityLink walking in partnership with the Climate Pledge, are all things we can be proud of.
Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, went on to add: “We are delighted with the success of Co-op Live’s first year, and to see it taking the top spot off London.
“It shows Manchester is the home of live music in the UK, with Co-op Live bringing so many exclusives from artists like Bruce Springsteen to the city and Oasis playing massive hometown shows this summer – 2025 is going to be one of the biggest ever for our city’s music scene.”
Meanwhile, things are feeling less fortunate at the grassroots end of the spectrum, as the Music Venue Trust is imploring people to get behind a vulnerable Manc music institution.
Emily Sergeant -
3rd June 2021 
