East End’s big council tidy time’ is just a load of rubbish

SQUADS of litter pickers and street sweepers have been blitzing the streets of London’s East End. Consultations at Tower Hamlets earlier this year gave the public a say in how �2.4 million council taxpayers’ cash was spent on extra services, which included street cleaning

SQUADS of litter pickers and street sweepers have been blitzing the streets of London's East End.

Consultations at Tower Hamlets earlier this year gave the public a say in how �2.4 million council taxpayers' cash was spent on extra services, which included street cleaning.

Residents voted for �21,000 to be spent on litter pickers and street sweepers from a list which also included programmes to keep youngsters out of trouble and services to crack down on crime.

The streets given a good tidy-up during the summer holiday were in Bethnal Green, Spitalfields, Millwall, Blackwall, Cubitt Town, Bow, Mile End, Old Ford and Bromley-by-Bow during August and September.

The litter pickers scooped up nearly 340 sacks of recycling, 250 sacks of litter and nine sacks of weeds and garden material.