Dan Walker has called on everyone to “respect” the environment after he saw a park strewn with rubbish and left over food. The BBC Breakfast star shared a picture of the greenery covered in waste with his 559,000 Twitter followers. Demanding to know why the litter had be left there, the 42-year-old asked why the people had not used the bins provided nearby. “Why do we do this? There were four bins about 15 metres behind me when I took this #respect,” he began.
“Not sure what’s needed… on-the-spot fine, enforced litter-picking or just a massive Chinese burn.”
His post garnered more than 6,000 likes and he was inundated with messages from disgruntled fans, responding angrily to his tweet.
Commenting below the image, one person wrote: “It annoys the hell out of me. In my job I watch customers drop litter out of their car windows on a daily basis. I’ve resorted to the point of refusing to give them their order (at times) till they pick it up and place it in a bin or take home. It’s just laziness and ignorance.”
“I’m afraid some people don’t give a damn these days. Selfish, individuals who knows someone else will pick up after them,” another groaned.
A third individual wrote: “So b****y disrespectful,” as a fourth added: “Laziness and a lack of respect!”
Others agreed with Dan’s suggestion to fine culprits, with one penning: “Fines, fines, fines and more fines. £50 per item littered and community service of two hours of litter picking per item of that should stop it.”
Seconding their sentiment, a second chimed: “Lack of education and respect. Huge fine and community service when caught.”
Meanwhile, someone else contributed: “I pity them, they disrespect their environment and must disrespect themselves. In the ‘80s we had lots of positive reinforcement to not litter; parents, school, adverts on TV and messages on kids programs. I feel a lot of that has gone.”
Last week, Dan sparked another debate when he defended co-host, Louise Minchin, against viewers who criticised her for wearing the same outfits more than once.
The father-of-three and Louise had been discussing Lent when the former revealed she had given up shopping, before admitting she would be hitting the high street again soon.
She enthused: “When Lent is over I might go back to the shops! But you all might have an opinion on me – you’ve all seen my wardrobe!”
Leaping to Louise’s defence, Dan appeared to accuse viewers of double standards, as he exclaimed: “Also, the other end of it is: In this job I can literally wear the same suit three days on the trot and no one cares!
“But if you wore the same shirt…”
“If I wore the same shirt three days in a row!” Louise interjected, before Dan added: “You’d get grief for it! Which is annoying and wrong!”
Attempting to move the conversation on, Louise switched her attention to the next news piece, with her continuing: “Yes, well, anyway.”
BBC Breakfast airs weekdays on BBC One at 6am.