THREE new litter teams have been launched by Burnley Council at a cost of almost £250,000 as part of its campaign to make the borough cleaner, greener and safer.

A special meeting of the council's executive on Wednesday approved £200,000 funding for three temporary litter teams of 10 staff. The teams will operate in priority areas across the borough until the end of the financial year next March.

The executive also agreed moves to buy additional and replacement litter bins.

Leader Gordon Birtwistle said: "This money was given to the council by the people and we need to clean this town up and make it a better place to live.

"That's what we're going to do and we want to get straight on with it."

Coun Charles Bullas, the executive member for the environment, said: "We've listened to residents' concerns over the effect that littering has on their communities and their lives and acted upon those concerns.

"These litter teams will be out in the borough picking up litter, helping to clean up fly tipping and acting as our 'eyes and ears', collecting evidence so that we can catch and fine the irresponsible minority of people who don't care about their area and who drop litter or dump rubbish.

"The council has a zero tolerance approach to littering, dog fouling and fly tipping and as part of the wider work to clean up the borough we are also strengthening our enforcement work and issuing fines against those caught spoiling our borough.

"We are doing our part to clean up our area but we can't do it alone. We need the help and support of local people to ensure there is a lasting benefit.

"The obvious answer is not to drop litter in the first place but we also need people to report anyone they see dropping litter, not cleaning up after their dog, or fly tipping.

"If we can gather enough evidence we will take action against those people responsible for spoiling our borough for everyone."

The litter teams will supplement the clean up work already being done by contractor Biffa and the council's green spaces and amenities staff.

A decision has yet to be taken on which areas the teams will tackle but that will be based on those with the worst litter problems.