LET'S clean up Otley - that's the plan for Nigel Francis in his first year as Town Mayor.

And he isn't just talking about rubbish.

Boosting tourism, employing full time 'handymen', and a community resource fund are the grand designs Councillor Francis has in mind.

And his plans include getting councillors out on the streets picking up litter.

Coun Francis is to launch a project called 'Let's Pick-It Otley' and invites all 15 town councillors to give up two weekends a year to help pick up litter in the town.

Coun Francis said: "If all 15 of us got out there we'd get a lot done."

He would also aim to enlist the help of voluntary groups and schoolchildren.

Coun Francis wants to see the town become a bigger tourist attraction, and a cleaner, more attractive place to be.

These plans would involve making the fact that Otley is used to film Emmerdale and Heartbeat better known.

Coun Francis said: "Many people think Emmerdale is in Esholt and Heartbeat is in Goathland. The television company did say many years ago that they weren't going to let it be known that the series were filmed here.

"But it hasn't done Goathland any harm."

Coun Francis said the tourist attractions could involve an Emmerdale window display involving a collection of artefacts and props from the show.

He is also planning to create as one of the two mayoral charities 'Putting Otley First."

He said: "I think people put Otley second, or even further down the list. I propose we put Otley first."

The idea involves building up resources to be used by the whole town. Funds will be raised by events to run throughout the year.

These include the Vintage Transport extravaganza, a Christmas concert and a 'Beer and Brass' concert. The funds could also be used to buy equipment for the whole town.

"Basically anything the town is short of, we could look at providing," he said.

Employing two lengthmen or handymen is another possibility, said Coun Francis.

A meeting has also been called on Tuesday at the Civic Centre to see what can be done to improve the state of the public toilets on Orchardgate.

Coun Francis said: "No matter how friendly the people are, tourists won't come back unless the town is nice, clean and attractive."

Coun Francis said that losing the boats on the River Wharfe was 'just another nail in the coffin' for tourism and a replacement attraction was needed.

Staff at the Tourist Information Centre in Otley said: "Anything that makes the area more attractive to tourists has to be a good thing."

Councillor John Eveleigh said he was not averse to getting out there and helping clean up the town.

He said: "I have done so in the past but I don't think it addresses the fundamental problem of litter in Otley."

Chair of Otley Town Parnership Phil Coyne thought a more serious approach to the problem was necessary.

He said: "The town councillors going out two weekends a year isn't going to make any difference. People need to take some pride in Otley and not drop the litter. It's the responsibility of everyone to clean up the town, not just one group. As for the tourism issue, there is already a lot going on through the Otley Town Partnership.

"There is some research that shows that television tourists don't spend a huge amount of money, so if we promote Otley as the Emmerdale town, we may find clogged up car parks with very little benefit to business.

"We need to look at these issues carefully."