According to the report, Local Environmental quality in decline - further analysis, the most deprived neighbourhoods had been worst hit by a decline in local environmental quality with standards at their lowest point in more than a decade.

It called for collective action at national and local levels to reverse “declining standards and neglect”.

Based on data from more than 14,000 surveys of council areas across Scotland, the report suggested that the gap in standards between Scotland’s most deprived and most affluent areas was widening.

The charity said: “In last year’s report Keep Scotland Beautiful identified that standards were falling across Scotland, after years of improvements.

“This year it has been identified that standards have slipped further, despite some very positive initiatives, and the most deprived communities have experienced the greatest decline.”

Keep Scotland Beautiful chief executive, Derek Robertson, said: “The national picture is one of declining standards and neglect.

“This national decline has been caused by the perfect storm of austerity, unsustainable consumption, lack of civic pride and concern, and perhaps an increase in irresponsible behaviour.

“We have always had a problem, but until now we’ve been able to cope and clean up.

“It is clear that the current disjointed approach is simply not working. This has allowed an environmental setback to threaten our ambition for Scotland to be a socially just society.”

Mr Robertson added: “Improving local environmental quality is not just about reducing litter levels and removing graffiti.

“There are wider consequences of living in a poor local environment. It impacts on health and wellbeing outcomes, contributes towards people’s fear of crime and negatively impacts economic development.

“As a country which places great emphasis on the quality of our environment, we are calling for national and local action, to ensure that we do not stand by and watch whilst standards continue to decline to the point of no return.”