IT WAS a new experience, swapping heels and smart trousers for jeans, trainers and a high-visibility jacket on a working Thursday.

And, as I was handed my nifty litter-picker to complete the look, it crossed my mind that I might have been slightly more comfortable in my chair, safe in the Herald office.

But as I had asked Shepway District Council to furnish me with an array of statistics regarding how much rubbish staff had had to clear from The Leas in Folkestone in July, it seemed rude to decline its offer of taking part in a litter pick.

I had asked for the figures because street cleaning seems to me to be one of the most thankless and unrewarding jobs possible. Not because it doesn't make a difference but because, as soon as somewhere is picked, swept and tidied, all it takes is one person, dropping one crisp packet, and it's on its way to being a mess again.

I wanted to find out exactly how big a problem it really is – and I did.

I walk up the Road of Remembrance every morning and can see the filthy state of the cliffside to my left, where countless other walkers sling their beer cans, takeaway wrappers and goodness knows what else.

As SDC press officer Sarah Smith observed, every piece of rubbish lying on the floor represents someone's conscious decision to drop it, rather than putting it in a bin.

Just on The Leas, just during July, council staff picked up 372 sacks full of litter – an average of 12 every day – which represents a lot of those decisions.

And it takes a lot to fill a council bin bag, as I found out on Thursday.

We – Mrs Smith, cleansing supervisor Kelly Finch and I – started at the top of the Road of Remembrance and worked our way slowly down the winding path and steps to the seafront, wielding our litter-pickers as we went. It was surprising just how much material the pickers had to work with; dozens and dozens of fast food wrappers, cigarette packets, bottles, cans, paper, cardboard… the list goes on.

The variety of the discarded items was also surprising. An expected array of supermarkets' own-brand "value" beer and cider cans told one story, the embossed Moet box another entirely. And we won't speculate on how a contraceptive wrapper came to be there because that is surely not right, by anyone's standards.

After two hours of work, the three of us had filled seven big sacks – and bear in mind the banks were cleared completely three months ago and that, even with the pickers, we could not hope to reach everything.

There was a strange enjoyment from the work and a sense of achievement from seeing the difference afterwards, but how long will it stay like that? Not long, if it is anything like The Leas.

An SDC spokesman said: "Keeping The Leas even partially clear of rubbish in the summer is a full-time job. For six months of the year we have to have someone there from 8am to 5pm to keep pace with the litter problem.

"Although we are grateful for people who use the 24 bins there, plenty more stand up and walk away from their bottles, sandwich wrappers and empty crisp packets after they have enjoyed their al fresco lunch.

"It seems to be an increasing problem and appears we now accept this as normal behaviour."

So the council has to spend thousands of pounds, of taxpayers' cash, just to "keep pace" with the amount of waste thrown on to the floor, not just on The Leas but on every road in Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh.

And yet probably every single person who has contributed to the mountain, which would make main roads literally impassable were it not cleared away regularly, has at one point or another complained about rises in his or her council tax.

If people didn't drop it, the council wouldn't have to clear it up.