ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Unclean, grimy streets are becoming a common feature of London, according to councillors.

They are now looking at ways of tackling the problem and reducing the number of "grot spots" across the city.

A recent YouGov poll revealed that one-fifth of Londoners chose "dirty" as one of their main descriptors of England's capital city. Professor Tony Travers, an expert in local and national government at the London School of Economics, described the declining standards of cleanliness as "grotification".

"Most people don't feel good if they feel that the streets, parks and gardens they live in are scruffy and not properly cared for," he said.

"If we look at the cuts to local government funding, social care has to be protected - but everything else including street cleaning, weeding and graffiti cleaning has taken a much deeper cut - up to half in some cases. That means our neighbourhoods look less good and that affects our pride of place."

London's councils are looking at various ways of smartening up the city. Havering Council has introduced a volunteer scheme to tackle "grot spots", according to the council's leader Ray Morgon. "We're looking at ways to try and stop the decline, but we are also looking to our residents to help us to do that," he said.

Leader of Croydon Council Jason Perry said the authority was introducing a more efficient streetlight contract. And Julia Neden-Watts from Richmond Council said her council was looking to work "smarter". "The more reuse and recycling we implement, the less we have to spend on collecting and disposing of rubbish," she said.