Children joined Mr Finnie at the launch

"Maybe they think just one bit of litter won't make much difference.

"But these cumulative crisp packets make a disgusting mess of our country."

The new campaign has been devised by the Keep Scotland Beautiful organisation which has estimated that the amount of rubbish being found in Scotland is increasing by 2% annually.

It also estimated that 88% is being dropped by people in the street and that the bill for keeping Scotland clean now stands at �55m a year.

Campaign director John Summers said: "The image on this poster is emotive and it may even make a few people angry.

'Litter louts'

"But we are facing a stark choice - do we want Scotland to have a reputation for litter, or do we want a clean environment that is pleasant to live in and that attracts business and tourism?"

The Scottish National Party welcomed the campaign but said more needed to be done through legislation.

Environment spokesman Bruce Crawford said: "My proposal for a new litter law to get tough on litter louts has already received wide support."

Mr Crawford said the zero tolerance measures would include increasing on-the-spot fines to almost �100.