Thomas Davis St in Cork one of the country's 'most littered sites'

The survey by An Taisce on behalf of Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) found litter problems are also deteriorating in Limerick, Galway and Dublin

IBAL’s Conor Horgan said: “Our towns are much cleaner than they were 15 years ago, but it seems our cities have reverted to the bad old days of the noughties, with litter the norm rather than the exception.”

A snapshot survey on the battle against litter has been described as “grim reading” for the biggest cities in Ireland.

The survey of 40 towns and cities, conducted by An Taisce on behalf of Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL), found litter problems are deteriorating in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Dublin. Cork has now been labelled a 'littered' city, with the northside described as 'heavily littered'.