A COUNCILLOR who decided to get his hands dirty and be a binman for a day is rallying support in the fight against the grot spots.

Coun Paul McGurty worked for a day with the refuse collectors in Blackburn and Darwen after a number of complaints of rubbish in his Corporation Park ward.

He wanted to see what life was like for the crews and afterwards said that their job could be made easier and the town cleaner if residents and businesses were more considerate when it came to trash.

And Darwen security firm boss Coun McGurty said that after a hard day's graft he had respect for the job the refuse collectors do.

He said: "We only ever hear of the complaints about collections but to do this job you can't be afraid of proper graft. It's a real hard day's work.

"These guys are out in all weather and the crews get little or no thanks."

Blackburn with Darwen Council have pledged £1million to a 'Trash The Trash' campaign to clean up the borough.

Many grot spots have blighted the area and the council have pledged to hit fly-tippers with court and heavy fines.

Coun McGurty said that often the crews had their job hampered by restricted access to streets because of parked cars.

He said they then had to call back two or three times before someone eventually moved their cars.

He said: "The crews get a number of complaints from the public for not taking some waste away, but much of this waste is trade waste and they can get some real hassle for not taking it away.

"The fact is that some commercial premises try to get their waste taken away free of charge.

"In some cases residents don't make the job any easier. They don't put their bins out on time so the crew are called back.

"The job can be hampered even more if residents don't put their bins in the right place or collection point."

He said: "After today, I have a huge amount of respect for the people that try to keep our streets clean under harsh working conditions for very little in return."