A FOUR-DAY litter pick on a nine-mile stretch of the A40 between Raglan and Abergavenny saw four-and-a-half tonnes of rubbish cleared.

A team of 12 from Monmouthshire County Council's waste and street services team cleared both sides of the road recently and will return to clear the central reservation.

While the county’s trunk routes – the A40, A449, A4042, A465 – are managed by South Wales Trunk Road Agent, the council is charged with collecting waste and rubbish on the sides of these main roads.

One collection of litter across the whole of Monmouthshire’s trunk road network costs around £50,000.

This is largely down to the costs of litter-picking teams and their equipment, transporting them to sites and maintaining lane closures and safety while the operation is ongoing.