PEOPLE should be shamed into cleaning up after themselves so more money can be spent on education and the vulnerable, a senior councillor has claimed.

The call for a campaign to urge residents to be tidier was made after new figures showed a surge in calls to Bradford Council about grubby streets in city areas.

In Bradford East and Bradford West, there has been a 17 per cent increase in calls to the authority's street cleansing department, which deals with issues such as fly-tipping, littering, graffiti, fly-posting, and detritus - classed as the dumping of other waste.

Overall, Council cleansing teams across the district were alerted to 4,047 incidents in 2014/15, up from 3,768 the previous year - an increase of 7.4 per cent.

The figures have prompted politicians to call for those responsible to "get a grip."

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on the Council, said residents needed shaming into taking responsibility for their actions.

"People say, well I pay my council tax, so someone else should pick up and clear up after me," she said.

"It is shocking that people still think like that, and they have to get a grip.

"Every penny we spend clearing up after people who can't be bothered is a penny less to be spent on our schools and looking after our vulnerable people.

"It is the same as the campaign that made people feel guilty about drinking and driving, we need a campaign to start making people feel guilty about this."

Bradford Council leader David Green said creating an effective campaign was something to be considered, but educating people about the cost and environmental damage done by littering was already an important part of the council's New Deal.

"Part of that is for people to take more responsibility for where they live, but we have options and in terms of the wider issue we are looking to strengthen littering enforcement.

"But in the current financial climate there is a lack of resources to fund having people on the streets permanently to witness such offences."

Councillor Green said he would welcome detailed suggestions from Cllr Sunderland as to how an effective anti-litter campaign could be mounted.

Councillor Rebecca Poulsen, Conservative group spokesman for the environment, said everyone needed to work together to combat the problem.

"People's council tax is paying for situations that shouldn't happen in the first place, we shouldn't need the street cleaning teams to be clearing up after people who litter," she said.

"Unfortunately not everybody is an active citizen and some people just think it's someone else's responsibility.

"Things like fly-tipping and dog-fouling are just completely unnecessary.

"The council teams are very responsive, but they are obviously struggling to keep on top of things in certain areas.

"It must be very frustrating for them.

"It's wrong that some people think they can just dump stuff anywhere and not get caught."

Reports due to go before Council area committees meetings this week show that up to 17 'priority streets' are identified every month.

Grades on cleanliness are then awarded on a sliding scale, ranging from whether the street is totally free from rubbish or "completely affected" by litter and waste.

The indicators are designed to give an overall picture of the state of a Council ward and highlight particular problem areas.

Most calls - 345 - were made about the Bradford Moor area, up 59 per cent from the previous year. There were 288 calls made about Bowling and Barkerend and 220 about Great Horton.

In Bradford East 1,215 calls were made, up from 1,042 in 2013/14.

In Bradford West, the number of calls rose from 915 to 1,071, with the biggest increase in the City ward, up from 152 to 203. There were 1,354 calls regarding fly-tipping, and graffiti rose by more than eight per cent, although general littering in the streets dropped from 23 per cent to 15 per cent.

The Great Horton ward accounted for the most calls in Bradford South, but the annual figure remained almost unchanged. Despite the number of calls remaining stable, there was an increase in calls about littering and graffiti.

In Shipley, the number of calls fell eight per cent from 483 to 445, with the figure also dropping two per cent in Keighley, down from 569 to 556.

The budget for district-wide street cleansing services for 2015/16 has been set at approximately £3.45 million, ranging from £663,700 in Bradford South to £703,400 in Shipley.

Council projects to support environmental issues faced by the street cleansing teams have included work with the Community Payback scheme, litter-pick and clean-up days involving schools and voluntary groups, promotion of the green dog-walkers scheme, days of action to remove fly-tipped rubbish and extra bins.