Tidy minded residents fed up with litter louts dirtying their streets are taking matters into their own hands .

Spurred on by the Telegraph & Argus and Bradford Council's Litter Awareness Week a group of young people from Girlington carried out a community clean-up to transform their grotty street.

And members of a Neighbourhood Watch group from Heaton have distributed hundreds of Tidy Britain leaflets through letterboxes in their streets outlining the law against littering.

Student Razwana Kauser Hussain, 17, said she and her colleagues filled about eight bin liners full of rubbish when they cleared Fairbank Road, in Girlington, because it was becoming an eyesore.

The youngsters even tied a bin to a lamp post in the street and have made a sign to encourage others to use it.

"Things are getting better now," said Razwana. "Some of the younger children have started using it and putting their crisp packets and things in there.

"We just want the rest of the street to work together and keep our neighbourhood in a decent state. People are always criticising children for making a mess and causing trouble, but this time it's us that have worked really hard to do something positive. Now we need the adults to join in and help us keep it clean and tidy."

Mrs Joyce Bean, 68, was so frustrated with rubbish being dumped on a playing field opposite Lillycroft Walk that she rang Bradford Council and asked to meet a cleansing officer on site to show him the mess.

The Heaton Neighbourhood Watch member said: "I'm so sick of living in this area and all the filth. People are coming up here at night and dumping large items of rubbish like settees and beds. Even an old bath was thrown into the churchyard of Trinity Methodist Church.

"It's not just in the field, it's also in the streets as well. The public have got to be made aware that they can't do these things, it's disgusting."

As part of Litter Awareness Week community clear-ups will be held throughout the district on Saturday morning (August 29) in the lead up to the campaign's grand finale in Centenary Square from noon onwards.

In the meantime don't forget to Norman the Shire-horse and his pals from the Horses at Work team will be the star attraction at the cleansing exhibition in Centenary Square which runs from 10am and 3pm today.

The BinIt! roadshow will also be in the square from noon onwards before it up sticks and moves to Keighley's Low Street for tomorrow's Fun Day.

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