Bradfordians are being urged to BinIt! in a battle to keep Bradford and its district litter free.

And to drum the message home a week of educational activities and roadshows swept into action today with the start of Bradford Council's Litter Awareness Week.

Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor Harry Mason officially launched the campaign in Centenary Square with a BinIt! roadshow ready to blast out the Keep Your City tidy message all afternoon.

The initiative, supported by the Telegraph & Argus, will ask people to take a long, hard look at their habits when it comes to getting rid of their litter responsibly.

Everyday this week the campaign's BinIt! message will be brought to the region's town centres by the BinIt! roadshow with MC Ray "Motormouth" Garland on the mike.

As well as giving out T-shirts, caps, badges, and advice on correct litter disposal the roadshows will also feature displays on the work of Bradford Council's cleansing department.

Deputy Lord Mayor Councillor Harry Mason said: "The message we want to get across is that litter is created by people - it doesn't just appear by itself.

"There are 300 litter bins in the city alone and one only has to walk around the town centre and you will find half empty litter bins with rubbish thrown all around them. There is no excuse for that.

"If myself and my wife ever took our children for a day out her pockets would be full of rubbish when we came back because she wouldn't let them just dump it."

Bradford West MP Marsha Singh said he was delighted with the campaign and fully supported it.

He said: "One of the things that people complain about is the amount of litter they see around. This campaign will help clear up the city. It's important that all the citizens of Bradford are aware of the damage they can do by throwing litter."

Bradford retail Action Group's chairman Jeff Frankel said: "We have to make Bradfordians aware of the litter problem. It's a matter of educating them to keep the streets clean in the first place. Then the cleansing people will do their job but obviously they need help."

Principal cleansing officer John Turner said he hoped the campaign would encourage people to use the 4,000 or so bins provided throughout the district or take their litter home with them. He said: "We only have a limited amount of resources so the less litter that is dumped the better."

Bradford Chamber of Commerce director Sandy Needham said: "People have views about city and town centres and we want to make sure ours iare welcoming and have a good image."

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