Council responds to 'rumours' about demise of street cleaning in Shropshire town

Ludlow South councillor Vivienne Parry has challenged Shropshire Council to "come clean" about the street cleaning regime in Ludlow after hearing "widespread complaints from residents".

Councillor Parry said: "Ludlow is one of the jewels of Shropshire. People come from far and wide to visit our town.

"Yet the standard of street cleaning and litter collection has declined alarmingly."

She added that councillors have been complaining that cleaning standards have been falling for some time.

"Now it is rumoured that our allocation of street cleaners has been withdrawn," she said in a statement that has been denied by the authority.

"Although Shropshire Council denies this," she added, "the evidence is all around us.

"Either the service has been cut back or the frequency of cleaning and collections has been cut back."

Yet, she says, keeping the streets clean is vital to a town very dependent on tourism.

"Overflowing bins, litter on the streets and weeds growing everywhere do not create a good impression," she said.

"Surely, we should be investing in our town for the wellbeing of our residents and the health of our local economy.

"I will be talking to both Shropshire Council and the town council to see if we can get some more action on this before we fall off the tourist map altogether.”

But a spokesperson for Shropshire Council said that the 'rumours' are not true.

"Rumours that Ludlow’s allocation of street cleaners is being withdrawn are completely untrue," said the spokesperson.

"There has been no change in the resources allocated to Ludlow or anywhere else in the county.

"Shropshire Council has a schedule of regular maintenance for Ludlow.

"The town centre is regularly mechanically swept and bins are emptied daily.

"Weeds are sprayed twice per year in line with other built-up areas across the county."

A council officer is in regular contact with the town council and councillors can contact her directly if there are any issues they would like looking into, or if they have been made aware of any concerns by residents.

The Shropshire Council spokesperson added: "We have no current reports of specific concerns in Ludlow. Officers visit the area regularly and have not noted any particular issues.

"Residents or volunteers are encouraged to report any specific issues to Shropshire Council so that they can be addressed."