Mystery sign-poster pities the fool who would litter the UK's West Midlands

Rubbish activists have reportedly put anti-littering signs up in the West Midlands calling trash bandits "fools" whose parents still tidy up after them.

The taunting signs have been reported springing up in the village of Ansley by BBC radio Coventry and Warwickshire.

3 mystery signs have appeared in Ansley to tackle littering pic.twitter.com/92tQta4VHa

— BBC Cov Warks (@BBCCovWarks) November 28, 2018

It asks why people are littering and offers up a multiple choice list – it's pre-ticked, but perhaps GDPR proponents will let them off this one.

The options are "I am a fool", "I don't care about natural areas" and "Mommy still cleans up after me", or all of the above.

The use of "Mommy" has had some people on Twitter up in arms about the Americanisation of the British language.

Good idea but we do not want Americanism such as Mommy o BRITISH roads

— dennis jones (@denboy47) November 29, 2018

But although it's possible the wording of the sign was nabbed from the US – environmentalists launched a campaign using them last year – some Midlands folk do say "mom" and "mommy" rather than "mum" or "mummy", so it's perhaps not the affront some would like to think.

El Reg is sceptical that a sign teasing people about their parents' lasting involvement in their lives is going to stop would-be litterers in their tracks.

But with the scourge of fly-tipping being what it is, it's probably worth a go. Perhaps someone in Doncaster, Southampton or Sunderland will put one up with the added option of "I am a lily-livered landlubber" to address their problems with dumped boats on the roads. ®