BURGER King has been named and shamed as the top source of fast food litter in Southampton.

Wrappers, drink cartons and uneaten food from the burger chain made up a third of litter found strewn on the city’s streets, following a survey carried out by Keep Britain Tidy.

Local chippies and kebab shops came in second with 30 per cent of rubbish picked up near the University of Southampton Highfield campus on Burgess Road and along Above Bar Street.

Other branded burger and chicken stores (29 per cent), KFC (seven per cent) and Greggs (one per cent) complete the gutter league table.

Across England, McDonald’s was found to be responsible for 29 per cent of all fast food litter, while Burger King accounted for just three per cent.

Another surprising find in Southampton was that virtually all of the rubbish was picked up in a suburban location, rather than the city centre.

Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Phil Barton said: “This is the first time we have looked at which outlets are littering Southampton and the results are revealing.”

Keep Britain Tidy surveyors spent two days observing fast food litter in Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Leicester, Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton and London.

University research reveals the damaging impact litter can have on a brand. Academics said that fast food businesses could be suffering financially due to their association with litter.

Professor Cathy Parker at Manchester Metropolitan University said: “There is clear evidence that seeing litter with a company’s brand on can negatively affect the public’s perception of that brand.”

A Burger King spokesman said: “Burger King strives to take a responsible approach to the environment throughout all our restaurants in the UK.

“We welcome the findings of the Keep Britain Tidy report, and are pleased that we only account for three per cent of fast food litter nationally.

“We would like to point out that the disappointing results in the Southampton area could have been influenced by a number of factors, including the lack of competitor presence in the locations selected for analysis.”