A BOLTON motorway worker is backing giant funnel bins set to be installed at the region's service stations to help keep road cleans and people safe.

The window-height bins are being installed at around a dozen service areas in the North West over the next few months.

They are being installed at two different sizes, 1.8 metres and 2.2 metres high, next to give-way lines at the exit to service area car parks and allow car and lorry drivers to reach the 0.5m-wide funnels from their vehicles' windows.

The first bins have already been installed at Lymm services on the M6 in Cheshire.

Paul Cooper, aged 46, lives in Bolton and has been collecting litter from motorways for 19 years as part of his job as a maintenance worker for Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald.

He said: "I think most drivers who sling litter out their windows don’t really think about what they’re doing, and that someone like me has to come along and clear up after them. It tends to be worst on slip roads or where there’s standing traffic, as that’s when drivers seem to decide to have a clear out of their cars.

“There’s always an element of risk when you’re working on the network as you’re near traffic so my message to drivers is please stop dropping litter and use the bins or take it home with you instead.”

Mr Cooper also helps to maintain motorways by filling potholes, repairing safety barriers and clearing drains.

Highways England is providing the bins as part of an initiative to tackle littering after more than 40,000 sacks of rubbish had to be collected from motorways in the region last year – an average of 108 sacks for every mile of motorway.

The list of service stations where the bins will be installed is still being finalised so it is not known if the bins will be in place in Rivington.

It costs taxpayers around £40 for each sack of litter collected from motorways - roughly the same as fixing a pothole.

Litters also poses a risk to other drivers if it lands on windscreens, causes a threat to wildlife and leads to flooding if drains become blocked so litter picking is regularly carried out across the network.

Rubbish has to be collected close to fast-moving traffic – putting workers at risk – and lane closures are often needed, causing disruption to drivers.