Bradford Council has challenged the findings of a study which claimed half Yorkshire's streets are unclean.

The county came third from bottom in a table of the nation's cleanest streets in a survey produced by environmental charity ENCAMS on behalf of Keep Britain Tidy..

But environmental bosses at Bradford Council say the study does not reflect on Bradford specifically and point to the vast strides made to improve the district's appearance.

Ian Bairstow, head of the Council's Street Scene - the department responsible for co-ordinating activities like street cleaning, refuse collection and lighting - said: "These figures only look at the situation on a regional basis, so they do not show the improvements made in Bradford in the last year.

"We survey the district's streets three times a year. In 2003/4, 41 per cent fell below the acceptable standard of cleanliness. We have been working hard to improve on this and, by last November, the figure had dropped to just 28 per cent.

"In the district's six worst areas for litter, 70 per cent of streets fell below the standard in 2003-4. Our hard work has see this drop by half to just 34 per cent.

"The Council's hard work is making a real difference to the district and we will keep on setting tough targets to ensure these improvements continue."

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth (Con, Ilkley), executive member for the environment, said: "It's a shame that these figures show Yorkshire as a whole to have these problems.

"Had the results been specific to the Bradford district I think they would tell a different story, particularly in light of the efforts that have been made. We have street cleansing teams out from first thing in the morning until late at night.

"I think it is self-evident that things have improved in the city. The last 12 months alone have shown a great improvements in the city's appearance."

Coun Hawkesworth said the Council had plans for the next few months to carry out "spring cleaning" initiatives.

"Just as houses end up with dust and dirt hidden away in nooks and crannies, so do communities and these will be the targets of our spring cleanings for the district," she said.

Today's ENCAMS study, called the "Local Environmental Quality Survey of England", looked at 11,900 sites across the country.

The study yielded some good news for Yorkshire after the county scored top marks for dealing with fly-posting, graffiti and fly-tipping.

The region was also awarded full marks for emptying public bins.