Grot spots to disappear as clean-up goes town-wide (From Warrington Guardian)

Grot spots to disappear as clean-up goes town-wide

A SCHEME to clean up Warrington's streets is to be rolled out across the town.

From April 1, the final stages of Street Scene will be sweeping through Warrington, getting rid of grot spots.

It has already been successful in seven wards - Westy, Bewsey/Whitecross, Orford, Hulme, Poplars, Poulton North and Fairfield/Howley - where it has been up and running since August 2002.

Now every other area is to benefit from the partnership between Warrington Borough Council's grounds maintenance and street cleaning staff.

A borough council spokesman said: "Street Scene has resulted in the speedy collection of litter, shrub maintenance, weed control, leaf clearance, clearing of fly-tipped waste, graffiti and fly-posting removal.

"It has helped increase communication with residents through the regular attendance of Street Scene staff at residents' meetings and estate walkabouts, helping to identify problems. The Street Scene team has also visited schools in the communities to encourage them to actively engage in caring for their environment."

The mandate for the Street Scene crew is to tackle street cleaning, grass cutting and the removal of graffiti - all functions which are usually tackled by separate specialist teams.

Clr Mike Hughes, who has seen the effects of the scheme first-hand in his own Fairfield and Howley ward, said: "Bringing in the Street Scene team is a common sense approach to the way that we deliver these essential community services.

"There will now be one point of contact with a direct link with the communities in which they operate."