Leith is still rubbish for litter

THE dirtiest streets in Edinburgh are getting worse despite an overall improvement in the city, a report has revealed.

Roads and pavements in the Leith area were found to have become even filthier than they were last year, when they also came last in a cleanliness survey of the Capital.

The Leith ward scored 61 points out of 100 on a cleanliness scoring system, one point lower than last year.

The neighbouring Leith Walk ward also scored poorly, although it had improved.

But the score for Edinburgh as a whole was 72, up by four points and the highest the city has scored.

Cleanliness studies are carried out by Keep Scotland Beautiful for the city council.

Leith councillor Gordon Munro said the fact that Edinburgh's overall score was its highest yet showed that his ward was being neglected.

He said: "Every time these tables come out we say things have to change in Leith but the score is getting worse.

"The litter run between Leith Walk and Leith Academy, with Greggs bags and chip wrappers, is terrible and the level of dog fouling is also contributing to this situation.

"It works both ways. We need more from the council in keeping the streets clean, but we also need to go into schools and educate, as well as crack down on irresponsible dog owners.

"People should be proud of Leith and keep the place looking nice. The fact the score has gone up in other areas of the city shows more has to be done in Leith itself."

But the council's director of services for communities, Mark Turley, told councillors in a report that a range of measures were starting to make an impact in Edinburgh as a whole. He said: "These scores have improved through a number of measures, including increased flexibility in meeting demands and working collectively to maximise the effect of limited resources.

"Improving street cleansing is still the top priority for improving the quality of life for residents in the city centre and second priority in all but one other neighbourhood.

"Recent street-cleansing surveys show that the city is cleaner than it has ever been although some wards have still to reach an acceptable standard."

He added that street sweepers had started working an hour earlier on Leith Walk in a bid to ease the problem.

Alastair Tibbitt, chairman of Greener Leith, said: "I wouldn't blame the street cleansers themselves because they do a terrific job.

"I would want to see more fines being dished out and more wardens."

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