£200k street cleaning blitz to begin in Wolverhampton

Extra street cleaners are being hired, including one based by Wolverhampton Railway Station every day from dawn onwards in a bid to make the city more attractive to visitors.

Chewing gum and dog mess will be targeted in particular by the Wolverhampton City Council campaign, called Operation Spring Clean.

It was run for the first time last year but bosses said this year's was 'bigger and better' as they make a concerted effort to create a cleaner Wolverhampton.

A specific six-month campaign concentrating on the city centre is ongoing.

But Operation Spring Clean will see every street in every council ward cleaned in just two months from today onwards.

City services chief Councillor John Reynolds said: "We know that clean streets and the environment really matter to people.

"Operation Spring Clean Wolverhampton is back and it is going to be bigger, better and even more high profile than last year.

"As well as our commitment to clean up every single street, alleyway and public land in the city, we are putting on additional clean ups of main roads, city and district centres and we want to invite community groups, schools, businesses and other organisations to join forces with us."

People are being encouraged to tweet anything spring clean-related using the hashtag #cleanitup.

And a Twitter account - @opspringclean - will have regular updates of how the clean-up is progressing with before and after pictures.

Councillor Reynolds added: "The vast majority of people want to live and work in a pleasant environment.

"We all have a role to play and people can do their bit by always putting your litter in a bin, reporting issues to us on our Wolverhampton Report It mobile app or getting involved in a community clean up.

"Lots of complaints that come into the council concern the appearance of private land, but they are the landowner's responsibility to keep clean and tidy.

"So Operation Spring Clean is a perfect opportunity for everyone to join us in making a difference to our city."

A competition for all city schools will also be launched to design a poster urging people to pick up litter and dog mess will be run.

The winning entry will be put onto the side of all the city's bin lorry fleet.

There will also be extra sweepers on main roads and early-evening cleans of the city centre, in addition to the usual 6am to 6pm daily cleans.