Keeping our streets clean

Our main street cleaning service is provided by a contract that costs around £4m annually. The service also provides for fly-tips to be removed along with weeds that exceed 10cm.

Frequency of cleaning

The frequency of cleaning depends on the type of street:

• Public streets are to be swept thoroughly at least once a week
• Busier streets to be swept up to five times daily

The cleaning of public streets running through council-managed housing estates is covered by separate housing estate maintenance contracts. We are not responsible for cleaning private roads.

Who cleans our streets

The contractor providing the main street cleaning service is Continental Landscapes Ltd. Public streets running through council managed housing estates are cleaned either by Lewis & Greaves or Connaught Environmental Ltd.

How our streets are cleaned

There are several ways in which our streets are cleaned.

Sweeping service

This removes all litter, rubbish, fouling, small fly tips (up to 2 cubic metres) plus leaves, grit, stones, and any weeds over 10cm high. Streets should be clear of all these items immediately after the work has been completed.

Litter clearance service

This removes all litter, rubbish, fouling and small fly tips (up to 2 cubic metres). Streets should be clear of litter immediately after the work has been completed.

Rapid response clearance

The rapid response service removes reported litter, fly tips, dead animals, oil spillages, broken glass and debris from traffic accidents that cannot wait until the next scheduled sweep.

Clearance should happen within an hour of the report being received, during normal office hours, if the item poses a significant risk to the public, or within two hours at other times 

Clearance of other items should occur by the end of the next day

Weed control

A herbicide spray containing glyphosate is used to remove weeds on our public streets three times a year.

Throughout the rest of the year, weeds are removed manually as part of the main cleaning service.

Bridge washing

Regular washing is carried out underneath railway bridges to remove pigeon mess.

We work with Network Rail to ensure they fit netting to prevent birds from roosting under bridges.

Leaf clearance

An extra service is provided to remove fallen leaves each October and November.

Household pets

Dead household pets found by our street cleaning contractor are scanned for identification micro-chips.

Collars and identification tags are kept, along with a description of the animal for a minimum of three months.

Contact Waste Services to find out more.

Background information

View the National Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse.