JEREMY Clarkson has waded into Britain’s latest litter storm, taking a surprising stance on the row.
The Clarkson’s Farm star, 65, said he hates litterbugs so much, he wants a harsher crackdown.
“You probably have racists and paedophiles at the top of your hate list, but for me it’s people who drop litter,” he said.
“I am not a believer in the death penalty, but I would make an exception for people who can’t be bothered to find a bin. Seriously.
“I would have snipers in trees and on top of bus shelters and there’d be no trials, no arrest, no reading of the rights. Just blam. Bullet in your head and your body dumped into a skip.”
Clarkson — who runs the 1,000-acre Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire — blasted Britain’s “festooned” verges, saying: “There is no hedge in the land that doesn’t have a fridge in it.”
His rant comes after council “litter police” fined café customer Burcu Yesilyurt £150 for pouring her coffee dregs down a storm drain in Richmond, south-west London.
The penalty was later rescinded after public outcry — but Clarkson says the officers deserve medals, not mockery.
He wrote in The Sunday Times: “Bravo to the council officers who fined a woman £150 for pouring coffee down a drain. This should be encouraged.”
“These guys are out there. Hard-working. Au fait with the law.
“And ready to impose it on everyone without fear or favour.
“Imagine if you had these guys, in a proper police uniform, on Oxford Street. Those phone thieves wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Clarkson, a long-time scourge of litter louts, said he regularly finds deflated helium balloons in his woods and would like to “hit the back of their hands with a hammer.”
He added that it was “sad” Britain was still a “long way” from simply “putting a bullet in the heads of all litterbugs.”
His comments come as a national survey found more than nine in ten sites across England are blighted by litter — and three-quarters of the public think the problem is getting worse.
More than half of respondents said littering had become “normal behaviour,” with 86 per cent saying they’d feel “embarrassed” to live in a heavily littered area and 87 per cent saying it would put them off moving there altogether.
‘I was left shaking’
Burcu, a school welfare officer from Kew, said she was left “shocked” when three enforcement officers chased her down Richmond High Street earlier this month.
She told the BBC it was “just a tiny little bit” she poured from her reusable cup as her bus approached.
“As soon as I turned around, I noticed three men, enforcement officers, chasing me and they stopped me immediately.”
Thinking they wanted to talk about her bus, she was stunned when they instead slapped her with a £150 fine under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 — which bans waste that could pollute land or water.
Burcu told The Sun the experience was “incredibly intimidating” and “over the top”.
“I think they thought I wouldn’t say anything against them and I would just pay it… It was a bit of a shock.”
The mum-of-one said she thought she was being responsible by getting rid of the dregs before boarding.
“I didn’t want to make a mess on public transportation and I didn’t want to pour it on the street,” she said.
