Litter picking equipment, bags and jackets will be made available to any group that decides it would like to tidy up a troublesome area and the waste they pick up will be collected by South Holland District Council.

TELL US ABOUT A GROT SPOT

Coun Howard Johnson, who has responsibility for waste management, is backing the Spalding Guardian campaign to highlight and clear up the worst spots in the area and says he hopes groups will come together to take a pride in the area they live in.

He said: "We want to encourage community action and we would like groups to try to keep their areas tidy and discourage others from dropping litter, by embarrassing them if necessary.

"It could just be friends and neighbours getting together in their community and deciding they will litter pick the village green, for example.

"We will give those groups the means to do it and pick up the collected waste from them afterwards."

Coun Johnson is currently finishing off a Street Scenes Strategy, which will be presented to cabinet next month and will outline the council's policy towards issues such as litter, graffiti and fly-tipping.

He said he hopes for a similar public response as the graffiti problem received, and said that an important part of tackling issues such as litter is to make people aware of the nature of the problem.

Coun Johnson said: "It's education first, second, third and fourth and if that fails then we can issue warnings penalise offenders."

Neighbourhood services manager Glen Chapman said that litter was an avoidable issue that diverted money and attention away from other areas.

He said: "In effect we are dealing with the things that should not be there.

"We would love to be able to spend the money we spend on this work on something else.

l Are you part of a group that is keen to tackle your local grot spot? Are you intending to take the council up on its offer of equipment and to collect your waste? If so, contact us on 01775 765413 or via e-mail andrew.brookes @jpress.co.uk.