Conservators work to prevent littering on Therfield Heath

Resident Sharon Stratford said: "I have noticed that bins are slowly disappearing, latest being the dog poo bin at the entrance to the woods, which had been left unemptied until it massively overflowed onto the ground.

"There are no bins on the heath (dog poo or general rubbish) on the Baldock side of the Therfield Road, I believe that rubbish and dog waste is being dumped where the bins used to be?

"Surely this is false economy, general rubbish is being left in the dog bins, and dog poo left indiscrimatly as there is nowhere to dispose of it.

"Therfield Heath will look like a rubbish dump come the summer!

"Elsewhere in the town, the bins are multi-use, so why doesnt the heath follow suit? Or at least hire a skip instead of paying £600 (their numbers) to empty the few bins that are left?"

Bins were sealed up and have since been removed from Therfield Heath to prevent rats (Image: Conservators of Therfield Heath)

A spokeswoman for the Conservators explained that removing the bins encourages people to take their litter home.

She said: "The normal waste litter bins have been removed for over a year, and we have found this to be a huge success in keeping litter down across the site.

"Last summer proved to us that when use of the heath is at its busiest, the litter did not increase. The vast majority of visitors are responsible, and we work closely with McDonalds who do regular litter picking in the Therfield Road car park.

"Friends of Therfield Heath have reported no increase in their litter pick on a monthly basis. When we had the litter bins, they were being raided by the crows and rats, which spread the litter around.

"Most nature reserves do not have litter bins and we want to invest in conservation of the heath rather than removing litter, and continue to promote the message to visitors to ‘help us invest in the conservation of the heath, by taking your litter home with you’.

"Dog bins have been removed where they were not being used appropriately. People should use dog waste bins for dog waste and if they are full take their waste to a different bin or take it home. The ones near the Therfield Road car park are due to be replaced."

Sharon also observed that the wrought iron memorial seats had been removed from the heath's burial mounds.

The Conservators explained that the decision to remove the benches was taken in conjunction with Historic England, due to damage to the top of the mounds.

A spokeswoman said: "All the mounds on site are bronze age, something we are legally and morally bound to protect.

"We have also been taking out scrub from the mounds to protect them from damage from plant roots. The benches have been removed in one piece and we are looking to recondition and re-site them."

The Conservators have an open meeting and elections at Royston Town Hall at 7pm on Thursday, February 23.