More fines should be handed out to litterbugs as figures show the amount of rubbish left around Britain has rocketed in the last few decades, a report published yesterday said.

Since the 1960s, there has been a 500 percent increase in the level of litter strewn across the country, leaving local authorities with a clean-up bill of 500 million pounds ($690 million), the study said.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the Policy Exchange think tank which carried out the research called for a new national body to coordinate anti-littering initiatives and tougher action on offenders.