LONDON BOTTOM OF THE LEAGUE FOR STREET CLEANLINESS - TUFFREY

12.01.00am GMT Wed 2nd Feb 2005

Commenting on the new Keep Britain Tidy, Local Environmental Quality Survey of England, that found London scored bottom of the league for cleanliness in the country with a score of 43 out of 100, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Environment Spokesperson, Mike Tuffrey, said:-

"It is a sad state of affairs that London finishes up bottom of the league for clean streets. It is vital that Councils, the Mayor and Ministers work together the cut the grime from our roads.

"Tackling the menace of litter would improve the quality of life for millions of people and make London feel a healthier, safer and cleaner place to live and work."

ENDS

Please contact Peter Gibson/Laura Eastham/Emma Brennan, Keep Britain Tidy on 01942 612617/612634 or 07768 880016 or Eibhlin O'Somachain, British Cleaning Council on 01942 612616. Note we have ISDN facilities available for radio interviews. For more on ENCAMS and the Keep Britain Tidy campaign and to see a full copy of the LEQSE report, go to www.encams.org.uk

Notes to Editors

Environmental Campaigns (ENCAMS) is an independent national charity working for the improvement of local environments. ENCAMS runs the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign and co-ordinates the People & Places programme.

Regional table, facts and stats

Having scoured sites across England's regions, our surveyors gave each a score out of 100. Here's how they finished...

Position Region Score

1 East of England 72

2 South East 63

3 West Midlands 62

4 South West 60

4 East Midlands 60

4 North West 60

7 Yorkshire 58

8 North East 57

9 London 43

· Each site examined was given a Good, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory or Poor grade. With 33% of their areas rated as Good, the West Midlands led the way, with the East of England second on 31%. The North West managed just 24% leaving them next to last - while London came bottom of the heap with 20%.

· Some 28% of sites in the East Of England scored a Satisfactory Grade - meaning the region came top, just one point ahead of the South East who racked up 27%.

· The North West had the most Unsatisfactory sites - at 62%. Next came London (60%) followed by Yorkshire and Humberside (58%).

· London also scored the most Poor grades, with 7% of sites given the thumbs-down. The North West meanwhile, had none.

· All regions scored top marks for dealing with flyposting, graffiti and fly-tipping (big items of dumped junk). Bar the West Midlands and South East, all councils received maximum marks for clearing away leaves, too.

· All of our regions were rated Good at emptying public bins - with the South East, East of England, Yorkshire and the North East receiving maximum marks.

· The East of England, East Midlands, South West and South East shared top spot for clearing up litter (all rated Satisfactory). Less impressive was London and Yorkshire's performance - they shared the wooden spoon.