UK parks become rubbish tips as crowds take advantage of hot weather and lockdown easing

Clean-up operations are underway

Leeds’ Woodhouse Moor was left covered in rubbish (Screenshot)

Parks across the UK have been left strewn with rubbish as the easing of lockdown coincided with the warmest weather so far this year.

Pictures shared on social media showed Woodhouse Moor in Leeds covered in litter after people went home people from enjoying the sunshine on Tuesday.

Bottles, plastic bags and cans were left lying in the grass after hundreds of people went to the park in the city’s Hyde Park area as temperatures soared to 21C in the city.

A council crew arrived at the park early on Wednesday morning to begin the clean-up operation.

A local resident, Dean Blackie, told Leeds Live: “I understand the need to get out and socialise but it really isn’t hard to take your rubbish with you... that’s diabolical.”

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A spokesperson for Leeds City Council urged people to continue to follow the rules on social distancing and gatherings, saying that “it is vitally important if we are to continue to protect the health and wellbeing of ourselves and others”.

Meanwhile in Liverpool’s Sefton Park, mountains of cans and bottles were heaped near rubbish bins and patches of grass were left burnt by disposable barbecues.

According to the Liverpool Echo, a clean-up operation is now underway with council refuse workers clearing up litter across the park.

Similar scenes could be seen in parks in London, with photos posted to Twitter showing bags of rubbish piled by overflowing bins in Victoria Park in the capital’s east.

In Wales, rubbish was left lying around Cardiff’s Pontcanna Fields, by Cardiff Bay and on Barry Island.

One woman told WalesOnline: “I live in the centre of Cardiff Bay and I am constantly witnessing people publicly urinating on my doorstep, in the car park, outside the shops, it’s disgusting.”

As well as anger about the state people left many green spaces in, some on social media expressed concerns about whether social distancing rules were being followed closely enough.

However, the risk of transmission in outdoor areas is understood to be far lower than in enclosed spaces.

Epidemiologist and government scientific adviser Prof Mark Woolhouse, said last month that there was “very little evidence of outdoor transmission” from coronavirus.

Speaking to a committee of MPs, the Sage member suggested outdoor gatherings such as beach trips should not be considered a risky mass gathering.

“There were no outbreaks linked to crowded beaches,” said Prof Woolhouse. “There’s never been a Covid-19 outbreak linked to a beach ever anywhere in the world to the best of my knowledge.”

He added: “There was evidence going back to March and April that the virus is not transmitted well outdoors. There’s been very, very little evidence that any transmission outdoors is happening in the UK.”