Every Blackpool road gets monthly inspection by street cleaners

Dubbed the Cleaning Inspection Monitoring System (CIMS), the service run by the council’s waste disposal company Enveco, means street cleaners can be directed to priority areas.

As well as monitoring rubbish, the inspections identify where overhanging trees are posing a danger to pedestrians, and even where gravel is escaping from residents’ drives enabling weeds to build up.

John-Paul Lovie, head of waste at Blackpool Council, told a meeting of the tourism, economy and communities scrutiny committee: “We have developed a monitoring system and can inspect every street in the borough once a month.

“Then we can schedule the work with the NEAT team (neighbourhood environmental action team).

“However one of the problems we do have with street cleaning is people’s cars parked on the street and getting past them.”

It is hoped in future to notify residents through social media when mechanical sweeping is due to be carried out so vehicles can be moved.

Investment has been made in training and equipment, including machinery and treatments to rip out weeds which blight many streets.

Street cleansing was incorporated into the bin collection service for the first time when Enveco was formed as a council-owned company in 2019.

The meeting heard potential changes to bin collections are set to include a new requirement to separate food waste as part of government legislation, meaning it could no longer be put into the general waste grey bin.

Blackpool residents could also see hessian sacks currently used for paper and cardboard waste replaced with wheeled containers, but any change would cost around £1m to implement.

The annual report into the town’s waste services also confirmed old medical equipment such as wheelchairs and crutches is now being collected and specially cleaned for reuse, instead of being thrown away as it had been in the past.

The move was welcomed by Coun Maxine Callow who said: “For many years people wouldn’t put them out for collection so they were wasted.

“We were told it wasn’t hygienic and it did annoy people who had all these things at home, so I’m delighted we are doing this now.”