Southampton's interactive 'ballot bins' helped reduce litter by up to 70 per cent, the city council has said.

The solar-powered bins, placed in three litter hotspots across the city over the summer, allowed people to cast their vote by placing their rubbish in either of the two available boxes. 

For example, members of the public were asked to choose between Love Island and Desert Island, Barbie and Oppenheimer, Craig David and Scott Mills.

The bins used sensors to detect and count which option the public voted for as they threw away their litter, with digital screens keeping track of the score.

Following the trial, run by Hubbub in partnership with KFC, Hubbub analysed the volume of litter at the three bin locations before and after the arrival of the bins.

The data showed that the ballot bins on average had a capture radius 2.5 times greater than existing bins.

This means that within a distance of 20 metres from the bins, drink litter was reduced by around 70 per cent and food litter by around 60 per cent.

According to the data, seven out of ten people in Southampton saw the voting bins as a good way of reducing litter.

The trial was featured on BBC News, ITV Granada, the Manchester Evening News and on the Instagram page, 'Archbishop of Banterbury'.

Councillor Eammon Keogh, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said: “Southampton strives to be a cleaner, greener city, not only for those of us living and working here now but for future generations to come.

“We were thrilled to be asked to facilitate this innovative approach to tackling litter and are delighted that all residents got involved and, together, have produced fantastic results, while having some fun in the process.”

Gavin Ellis, co-founder and director of Hubbub, said: "Hubbub has shown that creativity, playfulness and collaboration can help to cut through the noise when engaging the public on unexciting topics like litter.

“As well as spotlighting issues, starting conversations and raising awareness, though, we want to change behaviours, which is what our Big Ballot Bins and #PickYourSide campaign achieved. Who knew bins could capture the imagination like this?"