City council failing to tidy up litter on its own doorstep

He has started a new war of words with the city council by accusing it of "failing" to help tackle waste problems in Worcester.

Mr Foster picked up rubbish outside the council-owned community centre in Midland Road yesterday after he said he was inundated with comments from residents.

He said: "Ever since I asked the people of Worcester to let me know about grot spots' they knew about, I have been inundated with requests for areas to be cleaned up.

"This latest one (Midland Road) takes the biscuit - actually in the city council's own backyard. How can they tell others to keep their own houses and gardens clean when they fail to do so themselves?"

As the Worcester News reported two weeks ago, Mr Foster called for an immediate clean up on a stretch of land in Tallow Hill - labelled the worst spot in the city.

He found the land - the canal bank by Wickes retail store - was still littered with cans and needles last Friday.

He said "we simply can't afford to let grot spots exist" and challenged the city council to get tough. The mess was cleaned up yesterday morning after a delay because the city council was unsure about rights of way.

Malcolm Cox, operations manager, said: "There was confusion when Mr Foster first raised this issue because it is not an area we would normally clean.

"It is not a rights of way area and we are still trying to see who has responsibility for it. But we still went and cleared it up on Monday."

Allah Ditta, cabinet member for clean and green, said: "In that spot of land in Tallow Hill people are sleeping rough, which makes it difficult to clean up, but I understand the bit Mike Foster is talking about has been done.

"As far as Midland Road goes, we put up three or four new bins and it seems to have made a difference.

"I'm beginning to wonder what more can be done, because officers tell me whenever they clean up the worst spots, it goes back to how it was within 10 days."