RESIDENTS in an Edinburgh street plagued by litter and dog fouling have demanded action from the city council.
People staying in Granton Medway claim street cleaning teams and environmental wardens are not doing enough to control the problems in their area.
And they reacted with disbelief to last week's report by environmental watchdog Keep Scotland Beaut
iful which said that the city is cleaner than ever before.
Inspectors were told to look out for dog fouling, vandalism, graffiti, weeds, fly-posting and fly-tipping, as well as the prevalence of different types of litter.
The overall Edinburgh score was 70 - the highest in the eight years that the inspections have been carried out - but some Granton residents felt their own score should have been closer to zero.
As well as pieces of rubbish like pizza cartons, chip papers, empty juice bottles and crisp packets, plastic bags and bits of paper strewn around the street, dog fouling is obviously a problem, with many people not cleaning up after their pets.
George Taylor, secretary of the West Pilton/West Granton community council, said: "The cleaning services in this area can be quite sporadic, and so there are a lot of problems with litter.
"There used to be concierges here who would patrol part of the area, make sure it was kept tidy, pick up bits of litter and get people involved in keeping their communities tidy.
"But since the funding went for them there has been no real service down here.
"We've told the council about it, but they don't seem to think it's a problem."
Postman James Manson, 39, who has lived in Granton Medway for more than six years, said he was stunned when he read about the city's "clean" streets.
"When I read that the city was being praised for the cleanliness of its streets I just about choked, and it's obvious they never came down here," he said.
"If these inspectors had taken a look at this street they wouldn't see us a premiership team, but closer to a lower division club fighting relegation.
"It is terrible here, and it has been like this for a long time. The streets are cleaned once a week, but all they do is sweep to the side of the road, so anything on the pavement is just left.
"The dog fouling is a real concern, and while the area has never been great, I would say if anything it's worse now than when I moved in."
Neighbour Mark Faulkner, 43, a student, said that it was probably the worst street he had ever lived on.
"We get fire engines down to this area constantly, and I was told it was kids burning rubbish, so it's clear there's a problem with too much litter around here," he said.
"I think kids these days just don't care and will throw their empty bottles or sweet wrappers wherever they like.
"But the problems here have been brought to the attention of the council, and yet nothing's been done.
"I don't think I've ever seen an environmental warden down here since they were introduced, and there is just rubbish everywhere."
The Keep Scotland Beautiful result followed an Audit Scotland report last month, based on inspections carried out last year, which branded the city's streets as the worst in Scotland.
A council spokeswoman said Granton Medway was normally cleaned every ten days, including both the pavements and the roads, but added that the residents' concerns have been passed on to cleaning teams.
Councillor Robert Cairns, Environment and Streetscape leader, said: "The recent CIMS score shows that the city as a whole has been independently verified to be cleaner and this is good news.
"However, this doesn't mean that we're complacent.
"We will therefore look into the residents' concerns and if action is needed in the Granton Medway area, we will ensure that it is taken."
