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Blackpool clean-up bill hits £4m
IT has been revealed the cost of keeping Blackpool's streets clean and free of litter is almost £4m.
Blackpool Council spends the cash on its Street Scene department, which is responsible for picking up litter including food packaging and cigarette butts, collecting waste which has been fly-tipped, removing graffiti and cleaning up discarded chewing gum.
The Streetscene team also deals with sweeping the streets, emptying bins and maintaining the verges along the resort's roads.
A Blackpool Council spokeswoman said: "Blackpool Council's Streetscene budget is spent on keeping the town clean and tidy.
"Through the BIG CAT (Blackpool Is Getting Clean And Tidy) campaign we are trying to educate residents on littering and where appropriate we do take tough action and issue fixed penalty notices.
"However there's only so much we can do to keep the streets clean, we need residents and visitors to do their bit as well by disposing of their waste correctly."
The money is being spent in this financial year.
A similar amount was spent in the previous 12 months, but staff from the Streetscene team now deal with extra responsibility, such as clearing verges and making sure the new Prom is sparkling.
In June, The Gazette revealed how research by the GMB union showed the resort had some of the dirtiest streets in the North West.
More than 10 per cent of the resort's pavements had "unacceptable" levels of litter.
Flytipping on private property - such as some recently seen at derelict houses on Leopold Grove in Blackpool - cannot be cleared up by the council as officers do not have permission to enter land not owned by the authority.
FOR FULL STORY SEE THURSDAY'S GAZETTE
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Weather for Blackpool
Friday 25 May 2012
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Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
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