A RINGWOOD resident has been left saddened after a bin in a Burley car park has been left overflowing and threatening wildlife.

Located in Picket Post car park, off the A31, Peter Rosie has been left frustrated the bin has been left to overflow and has blamed its proximity to McDonald's as part of the reason.

A popular site due to its view across Bournemouth, Peter visited the car park on June 21 and has labelled it hypocritical due to constant messaging from New Forest authorities to not feed the ponies. 

He said: "They're always going on about 'don't feed the ponies' and in fact, if you are caught feeding a pony or petting a pony, in theory, you can be fined. 

"It's all very well but then they shouldn't allow all this rubbish to be lying around so ponies can go and eat it anyway."

A resident in the area for 39 years, Peter claimed this is an issue that has arisen in recent years with fly-tipping also increasing in the area. 

When asked if he believes more bins should be put in place, he said 'in an ideal world' people would just take their rubbish home rather than leaving it in the Forest.

He said: "I've had some people going on at me saying 'the bins shouldn't be there in the first place, people should take their rubbish home'. In an ideal world, they probably should but it's not an ideal world. 

"It's good the bins are there but I don't know how often they are meant to be emptied. A lot of people go to McDonalds to get their food and drive there and sit and eat it in their car. They then want to get rid of their rubbish and not everyone wants to take it home."

"People just seem not to care, they just lob things out of their window but that's a question of education, not fines."

A spokesperson for Foresty England, which owns the bin, said: “Like many countryside locations we ask people to take their litter home with them.

"We do provide bins at some of the busiest locations and these are emptied regularly and more frequently at busier times of the year. However the number of bins in the forest are limited as they can attract the ponies and other livestock that graze on the forest.

"In a natural environment where litter can harm wildlife the best place for it for people to take it home where it can be disposed of safely.

“If a bin is already full we ask people not to leave rubbish here as it will become litter and attract wildlife.

"At picket post we often see the litter situation exacerbated by people leaving food packaging from the nearby take away outlet. We would ask them to please make sure they also take away their rubbish and respect this special place.” 

“Issues with bins in Forestry England car parks can be reported to us directly via southern.enquiries@forestryengland.uk”