The Council’s new look Neighbourhood Services was launched with an ambitious programme of roadshow events held at venues throughout the District – all of which were staffed by the newly formed Neighbourhood Teams.

At the events held in Sutton-in-Ashfield and Hucknall, black bags were tipped onto the roadshow area to highlight the problems caused by litter in the town centres.

“The black bags which have been dumped here today represent the amount of rubbish which is collected in Ashfield every single morning – if you add it all up that’s 2.1 million black bags full of rubbish each year,” explained Edd de Coverly, the Council’s Head of Neighbourhood Services.

“We hope that by showing the public what this amount of litter looks like will highlight the importance of putting their rubbish in a bin. We are delighted to be launching an improved service but we need the public to do their bit, both in telling us where the problems are, but by also acting responsibly themselves,” he added.

The aim of the roadshows was to introduce the Council’s new Neighbourhood Teams and a freephone helpline number – 0800 183 8484, to enable the public to report any environmental or highway concerns more easily and for the Neighbourhood Teams to respond more effectively.

Portfolio Holder for Streets, Parks and Roads, Cllr. Robert Sears-Piccavey, said that the Council was becoming more accessible to communities.

“We want people to tell us what the problems are in their neighbourhoods – whether its litter, graffiti or potholes, and we have provided a freephone helpline number - 0800 183 84 84 where all environmental, highway and waste issues can be reported.

“The council has put £1m into frontline services and we are determined to improve the quality of the environment by focusing on what matters to the public and co-ordinating services more effectively,” he said.