7:00am Friday 3rd September 2010
By Ian Mason
A campaign to reduce litter and flytipping in Tooting has been awarded a gold medal in a London-wide competition to honour the capital's best environmental protection schemes.
Judges from litter watchdog Keep Britain Tidy and the Mayor of London’s office praised Wandsworth Council for cutting down cigarette litter as well as tackling the illegal dumping of builder's rubble and construction waste on the town's streets.
One enforcement operation saw legal action taken against four unlawful waste carriers, two vans seized for being unroadworthy and two scrap metal dealers arrested for theft.
To tackle the illegal dumping of construction waste, the council’s litter squad has been issuing specially produced leaflets and information packs to local building firms and waste removal companies to remind them of the need to comply with control of pollution and environmental protection laws.
As part of the Capital Clean-Up campaign, the litter squad also contacted 600 businesses to give them advice about avoiding litter problems outside their premises.
Dozens of wall-mounted ashtrays were installed and 200 pocket ashtrays given to smokers. All the litter bins in Tooting town centre were also replaced with ones with built-in ashtrays in their lids.
The council's environment spokeswoman, Councillor Sarah McDermott, said: “Complaints about litter and flytipping in that part of the borough have fallen dramatically in recent months and that is testimony to their efforts.”
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