Litter being dropped on motorways across Yorkshire has almost doubled in just 12 months.

Bed frames, mattresses, oil drums, tyres, and even bottles filled with urine and bags of human faeces are among items which have been found strewn across the roads, including the M62.

Highways England has collected more than 10,000 bags of litter from motorways in Yorkshire so far this year compared to less than 9,000 for the whole of 2014.

It works out at the equivalent of 42 bags each day in 2015, compared to 24 bags each day last year.

Motorists are being urged to help tackle the problem by bagging and binning their rubbish.

Litter thrown onto the road can cause a safety hazard to other vehicles, while the task of clearing roadside rubbish puts workers at risk.

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It can cost around £40 to collect each bag of rubbish from a motorway, roughly what it costs to fix a pothole.

Highways England’s Roger Wantling said: “Litter thrown from moving vehicles can cause accidents as well as blocking drains and creating a threat to wildlife. It also puts the safety of workers collecting it at risk of being struck by passing vehicles.

Litter being dumped on motorways

“By keeping our roads free of litter we can make for a safer and more pleasant environment for everyone.

“We spend millions of pounds on collecting litter from England’s motorways every year – money we’d much rather spend on maintaining and improving the network.

“We’re therefore urging drivers to keep a rubbish bag in their vehicle so we can get on with the job of upgrading the motorways.”

The amount of litter collected so far this year does not include the bags of rubbish collected by local councils who are responsible for picking up litter on local and A roads.

It's a far cry from this - the construction of the M62 in pictures.