Lidget, at Oakworth, has been swept clean thanks to a campaign by five-year-old Thomas Spoor.

Little Thomas wrote to Bradford council's cleansing and transport officer Alan Baff expressing his concerns about the dirty state of his village. Mr Baff was so impressed that he arranged for a new cleansing machine to be taken to Lidget.

Thomas, who sent him a design for a similar machine, was also invited to the Harris Street depot in Bradford and to look at the Bowling Back Lane waste transfer station.

Cllr Gordon Mitchell, deputy chairman of the waste management sub-committee, met Thomas and his father Martin. He says: "We welcome the interest he has shown. We wish more people would take the same interest, then the district would be a cleaner place."

Mr Baff says he sometimes gets letters from school groups prompted by teachers but it is rare that such a young child writes himself. He says he found Thomas a very articulate boy who asked some good questions.

Thomas's mother Lyn says father and son throughly enjoyed their visit. She says the promised machine arrived on Saturday for the clean-up and comments: "The area is looking a lot better.

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