Wellingborough litter-pickers take aim at 'horrific' Jacksons Lane car park and urge council to take action

With no litter bins on the site that caters to upwards of 400 cars at any one time, action is being sought from the community group.

Wellie Wombles community co-ordinator, Craig Blacha, has penned a letter Cllr Martin Griffiths, the new leader of North Northants Council and councillor for the Croyland and Swanspool Ward in which Jacksons Lane is located.

In the letter, he outlines steps that the council could take to ‘improve its cleanliness overall feel’, as the Wombles have identified the Wellingborough car park a problem area.

He said: “I have some shocking figures which reveal that in this car park alone during May 2025 that our community group collected in excess of 63 bags of litter.

"I’m sure you will agree this is a really horrific statistic, to this effect I ask for your support to help reduce the volume of littering in this car park, and other anti-social behaviour.

"Whilst I appreciate the council aren’t placing the rubbish into the car park and we will never be at a stage of completely eradicating this issue, we can work on ways of making this car park feel safer and look cleaner.”

The 24-hour car park at the corner of Jacksons Lane and the High Street is one of two council-owned facilities that is free of charge – the other being the multi-storey in Commercial Way.

And as it’s in constant use, the Wellie Wombles are asking for changes that will improve the space.

Such recommendations include more provision of bins in the area, the removal of overgrown and unwanted weeds, improvement to highway defects such as road markings and damage to fencing, and regular maintenance to ensure it remains in a safe and usable state.

The Wombles are also asking for clear and concise rules to be installed in the car park to increase the sense of security in the car park.

North Northants Council and Cllr Griffiths have been contacted for comment.