Big Tidy to 'bring back the sparkle' to Bristol's streets

The Big Tidy crew is made up of street cleansers, graffiti removal experts, enforcement officers and community engagement officers

A specialist team of street cleaners, gardeners and graffiti removal experts have been sent to "bring back the sparkle" to Bristol.

It is part of the council's Big Tidy project and teams from Bristol Waste have been working across the city.

It is hoped it will encourage local people to take pride in local areas and love where they live.

Naomi Davis, from Bristol Waste, said she would like to see more people join in and become "part of the solution".

Kurt James said they will hunt down fly-tippers where possible

First launched in October 2019, in the past year, the Big Tidy crew have deep cleaned more than 650 of Bristol's streets and removed almost 4,000 pieces of graffiti.

Teams have also removed 278 fly-tipped items.

Neighbourhood enforcement officer, Kurt James, said: "Prosecutions are hard and it depends on the size of the fly-tip.

"But what we will do is we will look for evidence in the fly-tip and where we can find evidence of people who have fly-tipped then we will issue them with a notice that tells them that we will find them."

Kye Dudd, cabinet member for climate, ecology, waste and energy, is leading on the Big Tidy project for the city council

For the street cleaners, they have a hard job in a city where graffiti tagging mixes with urban art.

Cabinet member for waste, councillor Kye Dudd, said: "If the artist has got permission to do the graffiti then that's fine, there is not a lot we can do about that, if the land owner wants that or the property owner wants that.

"If they don't, then it is criminal damage and people should report that to the police and we will come and remove it if we can."

Naomi Davis hopes residents will join in and encourage people to love their local areas

The idea is for the community to see the difference in their local area and carry on the good work by forming litter picking groups.

But some residents told the BBC that almost as quickly as the rubbish and graffiti are gone, they are back again.

Naomi Davis, from Bristol Waste, said: "It's really sad to hear people say that, because unfortunately it is true.

"I think having a presence is great because then people see we are trying to do something about it and we invite any members of the community to get involved and be part of the solution."

Bristol Waste now wants to hear from local residents about where they should focus their attention next.

The crew remove or paint over graffiti tags, cut back overgrown bushes, clear fly-tips, litter pick and replace broken bins