Litter louts dump 25,000 litres of rubbish - mostly booze bottles and cans - in Shrewsbury Quarry

The rubbish, dumped in Shrewsbury Quarry, has reinforced calls for the public to phone the police if they spot any anti-social behaviour.

So monumentally massive were the enormous piles of trash that Shrewsbury Town Council staff found themselves clearing away, workers were dragged away from their important work of maintaining the picturesque riverside park.

The council’s head of operations Gary Farmer shared his frustration over the situation, and urged anyone who sees bad behaviour to call the police.

“There has been a massive increase in footfall in the Quarry,” he said.

“We have got these bins that hold 1,100 litres of litter and over the Easter weekend we filled up 23 of them – most of it was alcohol.

“There is a real problem at night especially with anti-social behaviour. I know the police are aware.

"We’re finding broken bottles in the grass so our lads are having to walk the whole area to make sure it is safe for people to use.

“We had people lift up manhole covers and damage them. We had an incident where someone has hurt themselves doing it.”

He added: “There are other associated problems, but it is mainly litter.

“When we have these problems it means our staff can’t cut the grass or maintain the area because they’ve got these other things to sort out. It isn’t just in Shrewsbury, it is a national problem. The majority of people are really respectful.

“The message we are trying to put out is that we need everyone who sees anti-social behaviour to call the police on 101.”

Several incidents of criminal damage and loutish behaviour took place over the weekend, including violence in Shoplatch, windows being smashed in Claremont Bank and Grope Lane and shop workers being abused in Sundorne.

It prompted calls for youths to behave and support the town ahead of an important week, with non-essential shops and pub beer gardens set to open on Monday.

Shrewsbury inspector Saf Ali also urged members of the public to call 101 to report incidents to help tackle such issues.