The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) offered its support to Suffolk entertainer Charlie Haylock as he embarked on his five-day Suffolk anti-litter walk from the Queen’s Arms in Mildenhall on Monday.

Mr Haylock, who is walking to Felixstowe in five stages in order to raise awareness of the growing litter problem in Suffolk, was set on his way by the Countess of Euston, CLA East regional surveyor Tim Woodward, and members of a number of local Rotarian groups.

Mr Woodward said: “The CLA backs Charlie’s walk and his attempts to raise awareness of this problem in Suffolk.

“It might seem like a victimless act, but throwing rubbish from a car window or dumping it on a verge could lead to a major problem for a farmer and landowner. It’s also a drain on Local Authority resources in a time of austerity.

“Rubbish thrown by drivers can be blown from the roadside and end up in crops, jeopardising farmer’s contracts. A famer in the south east, for example, lost a £16,000 contract because fragments of glass from a discarded bottle were found in a one kilo grain sample.

“Livestock can chew and ingest rubbish found on grazing pastures, leading to the slow, agonising death of the animals. An Essex member with land adjacent to a road near Maldon has reported that a number of his animals have, upon their deaths, been found to have pieces of litter stuck in their guts.

“And the cost to the tax-payer is absolutely enormous; for example, Mid Suffolk, Babergh and Ipswich Borough Councils spend, as a partnership, just over £93,500 per annum clearing rubbish from the A14.

“They reported in April that just over 100 tonnes of roadside little had been collected in 2015 alone.”

As well as raising awareness, Charlie is also aiming to raise money for the Eden Coppice Trust, which is looking to transform Brickmakers’ Wood, an area of neglected woodland in Ipswich, into an end-of-life retreat and an educational centre for disadvantaged young people. A previous project in Sudbury was backed by the CLA’s Charitable Trust charity.

To sponsor Charlie, visit: https://localgiving.com/appeal/Charleyswalk.