A Workington garage owner was outraged when he was threatened with arrest after 'giving McDonald's their rubbish back.'

Ian Potts, who owns Engine and Gearbox Services in Derwent Howe said youths repeatedly leave their takeaway rubbish outside his business.

He decided to take matters into his own hands and collect the rubbish. But instead of disposing of it appropriately he threw it over the counter of Workington's McDonalds last Saturday and repeated the same scene on Monday. Police were called to the incident. He said: "Would they like the place littered with my rubbish from my business?"

A representative for Cumbria Police said: "Police were called to an incident at the Workington branch of McDonalds on Monday July 29 at 12.26pm due to the report of a member of the public littering.

They said: "Officers located the individual and they have been spoken to. The incident has now been closed."

Mr Potts called Will Wilkinson, town councillor for St Michael's, to raise concerns about anti-social behaviour and said he believed the youths had "no social responsibility."

He said: "We're having mega problems with anti-social behaviour. Will has been very proactive, I rang him up when we had this issue because I nearly got arrested the other day."

And coun Wilkinson raised the problem at a Workington Town Council meeting on Wednesday. In her report to the full council, Rachel Pape, Police Community Support Officer, said anti-social behaviour had decreased at Derwent Howe but coun Wilkinson challenged the figures. He said: "It says in your report here that anti-social behaviour has decreased in the Derwent Howe. I've spent an hour today with an enforcement officer [for the council] at Engine and Gearbox Services where the anti social behaviour has not decreased.

"Police interviewed Mr Potts, the proprietor of the garage because he basically collected a load of McDonalds papers, cups, everything and he walked down to the McDonalds and he put them on the counter and gave them back."

Coun Wilkinson was outraged that the youths' anti-social behaviour had not been dealt with. He added: "And a McFlurry doesn't look nice when you spill it on the roadside."

PCSO Pape told the meeting: "We can only go off the reports we get though."

Coun Wilkinson asked the PCSO to increase patrols in the area.

Mary Bainbridge, a councillor for St Michael's, also challenged the report. She said: "I feel like there is a lot going on in St Michael's ward and when you look on here it doesn't quite reflect what is actually happening."

PCSO Pape said that not all incidents are disclosed to the public. She added: "Some of them may be domestic incidents, things like that because they aren't in the public interest."