The sight of litter beside the rail tracks at The Grove level crossing is enough to make anyone weep.
Probably the waste product of Rye’s Thursday market, paper and plastic bags and other detritus stretch for 50 yards along the line – no good advertisement for visitors arriving by car or rail, and certainly no example to the school pupils walking to or from Rye College.
But Rye’s newly formed group of “litter-pickers” are powerless. Regulations prohibit entry on to the tracks and it is the responsibility of Network Rail to keep their property in good order.
Apparently teams are employed for this cleansing work, but clearly not on a sufficiently regular basis to cope with this nuisance.
Rye News has requested help from the Sussex Community Rail Partnership to get some action. Kevin Barry is the Marsh Link community rail development officer, based part-time at Rye Station. He confirms that he has raised the matter with Network Rail and is awaiting its response.
Photo: Kenneth Bird