ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

A city in the UK is to receive £800,000 in government funds to trial street-cleaning robots.

The machines in Milton Keynes will take on tasks such as cleaning the pavements, de-icing the streets and looking for trip hazards.

The investment is part of an £8.9m national funding boost designed to speed up the delivery of new technologies in Britain's cities.

The robot trials will benefit the public while also creating employment, says under-secretary of state for science, innovation and technology Baroness Liz Lloyd.

"They've got apprentices working on these projects, on the technology side, so I think there are job gains to be had here," she said. "We're going to support more robots here in Milton Keynes on the streets doing jobs that are really going to benefit the public."

Milton Keynes is already known for its technological innovations such as autonomous buses and robot delivery vehicles.

Meanwhile, other cities are also investing in new machines and technologies to help keep their streets clean. For example, Boston Borough Council recently rolled out three new electric "Green Machines" at a cost of £64,000. The fully-electric industrial sweeper and two compact vacuums were purchased from a £100,000 contribution from the Healing the High Street project to improve public spaces and buildings in the town centre.

And two new high-tech street sweeping machines have just been deployed in Bromsgrove. The new vehicles are said to be quieter, more fuel-efficient and better equipped to tackle litter, debris and pollutants than the city's previous machines.