A main route into the city has been named the worst litter black spot by thousands of residents.

They have told cleansing bosses that Leeds Road is an eyesore, littered mainly with food scraps and containers from take-away shops.

More than 10,000 people contacted the Council to name the worst areas after the Telegraph & Argus urged them to point out their worst grot spots.

The Council also invited people to name the worst in its Community Pride newspaper, which went to every house.

Now, Council cleansing teams are battling their way through the thousands of eyesores named by members of the public who wanted action on them.

But since the teams have been out clearing up the eyesores, they have found that one of the worst sites is deteriorating again on Birkshall Lane at the back of Bowling Back Lane.

The Council says fly tipping is rife on the land - even though it is close to a household waste site.

Director of environment and waste management Richard Wixey said the main routes into the city were among the worst and much of the rubbish was from shops.

He said: "The response from the public has been amazing and I would like to thank everyone who sent a card back to us. They have played an important part in helping us to tackle areas which are causing the public the most nuisance."

Extra staff were brought into his department to put all the information sent in on a database, which took nearly a month to complete.

Now a trial has been started in the Bradford west area, including the Little Horton, Toller, Manningham, Clayton, university and Manchester Road areas.

Damian Fisher, senior cleansing officer, said resources had been withdrawn for two weeks to see how quickly each street got dirty. Then cleansing was resumed and officers again studied how quickly they deteriorated.

The Council will next change the frequencies of sweeping in the areas to see what improvements can be made.

The Council's executive member for the environment, Councillor Anne Hawksworth, said: "We are sticking to our part of the bargain by going out and cleaning up the eyesores and I would appeal to residents and businesses to help us by keeping it clean."

The Council says many other eyesores were named and cleansing teams are looking at 20 a week. But Mr Wixey said not all the sites were simple to clear because the land may be privately owned, or material creating the eyesore could be building rubble.

But he said many businesses had been happy to clear up their land when they were asked to do the work informally by Council staff.

People can report dumped rubbish or get details of the nearest household waste site or recycling centre by calling (01274) 431000.

Fridges or freezers can be taken to household waste sites or the bulk refuge service will collect them - but there is a £15 charge for domestic fridges.