From today (August 22) and into September the Mendip Hills AONB Unit is running a campaign to improve people's experiences in the visitor car parks of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near Cheddar.

The campaign aims to reduce anti-social behaviour, specifically litter, dog poo and car crime, and will target Black Rock gate, Blackmoor Reserve, Velvet Bottom, Burrington Ham and Kings Wood.

The Mendip Hills are busier than ever due to people taking their holidays in this country.

The AONB Unit has installed visitor counters on gates - at one site there were twice as many people passing it compared to the same period five years ago. The increase in visitors has seen a rise in anti-social behaviour like littering.

The Mendip Hills are a safe and welcoming place but during this period when many people are taking their holidays in the UK, the campaign is to remind visitors that the car parks are in nature reserves and generally looked after by volunteers.

The litter and dog poo are unpleasant to look at but also come with have real impacts on the plants and animals.

Nature recovery

Many of the visitor car parks are the entrances to nature reserves so people can help nature recover just by bagging their dogs' poo and taking it home with their litter.

The poo changes the composition of the soil by adding nutrients, particularly nitrogen. To help Mendip's limestone grasslands recover, nitrogen shouldn't be added as it helps nettles to dominate the rare flowers.

Alongside the unpleasant visual impact that litter has, there are other, potentially more damaging effects that litter may pose in the natural environment.

Much of the litter left behind is plastic and may also contain toxic substances which can pollute water courses.

The Mendip Hills collect water in the three reservoirs of Chew, Blagdon and Cheddar that supply water to 1.1 million people and businesses in the Bristol Water area. As a society, we are all paying for this water to be cleaned.

The Hills Have Eyes

To make visitors feel safe, the Mendip Hills AONB Unit are starting a campaign called The Hills Have Eyes.

Signs will be installed at many sites with sets of eyes on them. These types of signs have proved effective at reducing anti-social behaviour in a wide variety of locations.

Volunteer rangers will also be in the visitor car parks at peak times during the campaign to provide a reassuring presence and help visitors where they can with advice on walking routes.

Lauren Holt, ranger with the Mendip Hills AONB Unit, said: "It's unfortunate that the worse affected areas by dog poo are Sites of Special Scientific Interest for the rare plants and animals.

"Visitors can help nature recover on the Mendip Hills every time they visit. I'm sure people don't realise how they're affecting nature by leaving their dog's poo and litter.

"Plus we want to get the message across that it's volunteers cleaning up, there aren't paid contractors going around cleaning up."

There are many sites in the area that don't bins because they are unsightly, they attract more litter and are expensive to empty.

A handy tip for taking your dogs' poo home is to carry a plastic container or jam jar, then after you've bagged it you can carry it safely with you for the rest of your walk and dispose of it when you get home.