Protesters angry at the state of rubbish collections and street cleaning in Merton are planning a mass litter pick - and they intend to dump the collected trash at Merton Council's offices.

Veolia took over the contract to manage rubbish collection and street cleaning on behalf of the council - as well as Sutton, Croydon and Kingston Councils - on April 1 last year, and since then complaints have been rife on social media.

The hashtag #MuckyMerton has been drawing attention to litter in the borough since 2015.

Wimbledon mum of two Sarah Holford, 43, has organised the protest on March 18 and 19 because she believes the level of litter in her area is getting out of hand and that enough is enough.

She said: “In 2013 Wimbledon Library was under threat and an acquaintance of mine set up that protest and it worked to stop the closure.

“Merton Council I hope will listen to residents’ complaints about a similar issue - rubbish.”

Miss Holford, of South Park Gardens, said she has not seen her street cleaned in over a year and stressed that the littering has gotten out of hand.

She said: “In recent months the level of littering has got completely out of hand.

“Every day when I step out of my front door I see squashed old tin cans, flattened plastic bottles old rags and all sorts of small bits of plastic.”

The protest will be held over two days and will consist of picking up litter from as many places as possible to bring roads, open spaces and public laces back to the level of cleanliness people expect.

Miss Holford said: “There is an overwhelming sense that residents feel they are being ignored and their pleas for cleaning unheard.

“We want to be proud of our borough again and enjoy clean streets. Stepping over December’s Christmas trees shouldn’t be happening in February.

“Yet in some parts of the borough they’re still awaiting collection, last week on the way to school my children counted 296 pieces of rubbish. It’s a short seven minutes in duration.

“The council needs to set a good example but currently they are failing us badly.”

Miss Holford said she has contacted Veolia, which manages rubbish collection and street cleaning on behalf of the council, as well as the council itself. She said the latter was 'very apologetic' and assured her action would be taken but said things still have not improved.

She said: “I had a promise that my road will be inspected and assessed this week coming but why does it take four weeks at least three emails and campaign on Twitter for many residents to get any action?”

Miss Holford has posted about the protest on both Twitter and Facebook and said she has already seen a 'steady stream' of people committing to helping out.

She said: "There is a groundswell of support that something needs to be done urgently. People generally love living in Merton.”

She added: “We’d like to see an end to this poor performance of Veolia and hope the protest will finally give us clean streets again as well as ensure the Council know we won’t be ignored any longer.”

A Merton Council spokesperson said: "While we don't advocate fly-tipping we appreciate the efforts of our residents and have arranged to have a Veolia collection vehicle waiting by the Civic Centre offices ready to collect any rubbish.

"Littering is a national issue which is affecting councils up and down the country.

"Nevertheless, the cleanliness of the borough is our priority. Across Merton we have in excess of 669 street bins – 335 of which have recycling facilities. We are committed to help support residents to do the right thing and are working in partnership with local schools and businesses to highlight the awful effects of littering, as seen by the ‘Love Your Street’ campaign.

"Furthermore, we are actively encouraging residents to dispose of bulky household items in a responsible and environmentally friendly manner.

"We take littering very seriously and over the last six months alone our enforcement contractor Kingdom has issued 2,664 Fixed Penalty Notices to those who have committed littering offences.

“Together with Veolia, our waste management contractor, we are addressing all reports of flytipping and litter in Merton and are working hard to improve the service performance. Veolia have recently invested in additional street-sweeping resources and have increased the number of vehicles available to collect flytips, which is helping to solve this growing issue.

"While we continue to make improvements we are reaching out to residents to ensure they have the opportunity to meet face to face with our team to discuss problems and share concerns. We are encouraged by the civic engagement shown by some of our residents, and that their desire for clean and litter-free streets mirror that of our own, as we continue to work to make Merton a great place for families."

A Veolia spokesperson in Merton said: "The cleanliness of the borough is our priority. We are addressing all reports of flytipping and litter in Merton and working hard to tackle the challenges that changes to services have brought. We have recently invested in additional street-sweeping resources and have increased the number of vehicles available to collect flytips, which is helping to solve this growing issue.

"While we continue to make improvements we are reaching out to residents to ensure they have the opportunity to meet face to face with our managers to discuss problems and share concerns."