FAST-food giants are joining forces with council bosses in a bid to crackdown on motorists launching rubbish out of their windows.

McDonald's and KFC say they are working with Braintree Council to teach drivers about the impact of littering in a bid to reduce the amount of rubbish on our roads and verges.

Part of the effort has seen banners put in place at drive-thru restaurants and stickers stuck on take-away packaging asking customers: "Can you afford to throw £100 away?"

The questions makes reference to the council's decision to increase the fine for drivers seen chucking litter from £75 to £100.

Councillor for environment and place, Wendy Schmidt, said: "It’s likely to cost local tax payers around £1.5million to keep our district clean and tidy, and clearing litter tossed from vehicles plays an expensive part in that.

"In addition, it goes without saying what the impact on wildlife and nature is.

"Our approach to catching culprits is high on the agenda and our enforcement officers follow up littering reports from other members of staff, as well as members of the public."

Over the course of the past 12 months, 78 fixed penalty notices have been handed out to litter bugs with council bosses saying the A120 around Galley's Corner and the A131 are the most grotty spots.

The A131 is litter-picked every six to ten weeks while the Galley's Corner stretch of the A120 is deep-cleaned twice a year.

Deep-cleans involve manual litter-picking with the help of sweeping and washing trucks, traffic management and night-time working.

It costs around £20,000 each time.

Cherry Lewis-Taylor, the franchisee behind several McDonald's in the area, including Galley's Corner, said: "Everyone needs to take responsibility and dispose of their litter in the correct manner.

"We want to encourage customers to help protect our local environment by raising awareness at my drive-through restaurant."

The Government’s Litter Strategy 2017 stated that 81 per cent of people are angry and frustrated by the amount of litter lying country.

And, last March, the RSPCA said its answers a call about an animal that has been harmed by rubbish every two hours.

Huw James, owner of Kefco Sales Limited (KFC), said: "I believe we should all make a commitment to keep our area litter free and this campaign is a way my business can really make a contribution by helping to get the message out there."

To report offenders take a note of the registration number of the vehicle and visit braintree.gov.uk/carlitter or call the council on 01376 552525.