A DRIVE to encourage people not to drop fast food wrappers in the street has been launched in the Capital.

The Fast Food Litter Campaign, led by Keep Scotland Beautiful, saw people dressed as giant crisp packets and drinks cartons touring the city yesterday.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, the city's environment leader, said: "Every day, an average of 50 tonnes of litter is collected in Edinburgh through on-street bin collections and street cleaning. We must encourage people to [use] the 3600 on-street bins located across the city."

Bakery chain Greggs is hoping to reduce the litter around its outlets by displaying posters to remind customers to put their rubbish in a bin. Debbie Forrest, Greggs' marketing co-ordinator, said: "It's important that retail outlets such as Greggs try to encourage customers to be responsible for the disposal of packaging from the food we serve."

Chief executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, John Summers OBE, added: "Most of [the litter] comes from members of the public dropping leftover food and packaging on the ground."

The council can issue fixed penalty notices of £50 to anybody caught dropping litter in the city.