A NEW rubbish busting squad is to move into Leigh to rid the town of eyesores.

And a new specialist sweeper is to be introduced, along with the mobile team which will tackle rubbish dumping, overgrown footpaths and grot spots.

The move follows a survey by the Tidy Britain Group which put Wigan in the top 10 Metropolitan Boroughs for the first time.

The survey by the Wigan-based independent charity was carried out last September in all 36 English Metros and looked at streets, car parks and grass areas within one kilometre of each borough's main town hall.

Highways committee chairman, Cllr Steve Parker, said: "This report is very welcome. It demonstrates the better quality requirements of the new street cleansing contract started in 1997 and the increased efforts put in by the cleansing workforce.

"The increase in resources for the coming year shows how much importance we attach to ensuring we clean up our towns and streets."

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