Council’s cleaning hit squad

A Council ‘hit squad’ tasked with cleaning up the city looks set to be used for another year.

Worcester City Council is looking to spend an extra £80,000 next year to hire two members of staff to continue hosing down streets, clean benches, bins and bus shelters, remove graffiti and clear up leaves and weeds from the side of some of the city’s main routes.

The council’s environment committee will decide next week whether to set aside the extra money for the work in next year’s budget at a meeting in the Guildhall next Tuesday.

For the last year, the work, which has been carried out mostly in the city centre, has seen staff clean up some of the messiest streets hit hardest by gull droppings as well as scrub off offensive graffiti from the city’s skatepark.

The ‘hit squad’ has also helped with removing dead animals, litter picking, clearing leaves, getting rid of fly-tipping and washing down the riverside – particularly after flooding.

A report, due to be discussed by councillors, said the results of the work have been “very noticeable” and has resulted in fewer complaints to the council.

“The results from the deployment of the current enhancement team have been very noticeable; pavement washing and clear-up of gull mess has resulted in much cleaner paved areas, under benches and around trees,” it said.

“The time taken to remove graffiti has improved and the regular litter-bin cleansing has significantly reduced odours.

“There have been less customer complaints and the Council has received some compliments on the condition of the city from visitors.”

If approved, the council would spend £80,000 on keeping the two members of staff employed for another year as well as re-hiring a vehicle and jet wash.

Councillors will also be using the meeting to discuss plans to spend a further £55,000 on more staff to help with clean-ups and keeping the whole city tidy – including mowing grass, strimming, hedge cutting, litter picking and cleaning alleyways – throughout the next year.