PILES of rubbish in the town centre have left one Wiltshire resident fearing that people will be put off visiting Swindon.

Andy Slade, who visits the town as part of his job as a site manager, said he was disgusted when he saw piles of rubbish lining the sides of a public car park just off Fleming Way, opposite the Jury’s Inn.

He said: “I stepped out of my car and that was the first thing I saw. It was absolutely disgusting.

“It clearly hadn’t been cleaned in months and what kind of message does that send to people visiting the town?”

“I am a proud Wiltshire resident and I am constantly disappointed with the amount of litter accumulating in our public places and highways.

“On a recent visit I was aghast at the condition of the open air public car park, it is a complete eyesore.

“There must be months of rubbish to the perimeter of this car park which is within 80 yards off the frontage of the town’s premier hotels.

“Business people stay in these hotels and it is embarrassing to say the least,

“What sort of advert is the town trying to give?

“There will have a negative impact on possible commercial businesses wanting to set up in the town. “They shouldn’t be visiting the town centre and seeing that.”

The accumulation of cans, crisp packets, chocolate bar wrappers, a trolley and takeaway containers has put a cloud on the horizon for Andy, who said it had put him off returning to Swindon.

He said: “You have all this rubbish close to some of the town’s nicest hotels, such as the Jury’s Inn which is just across the road.

“Then, when you cross over, there’s just a sea of rubbish there. It’s not pleasant to look at.

“I’d like to see the council roll their sleeves up and make more of an effort to make the town centre cleaner.

“You don’t see this in Bath or Bristol and Swindon is a great place to visit for industry and shopping.

“It has certainly put me off visiting again in the future, nobody wants to see that..”

A spokesman for Swindon Borough Council said they plan to return this weekend to completely clean the area.

He said:“We would like to thank the member of the public for bringing this matter to our attention.

“In order to remove all the rubbish in one go, our StreetSmart team will need to use hand held blowers to disturb the refuse behind the fencing.

“This will then bring the refuse out into the open so we can dispose of it more easily.

“The blowers are currently being used elsewhere in the borough, but we expect to have the necessary equipment over the weekend.”