Bradford Council believes it is a cut above the rest when it comes to keeping the district tidy as the Government today slated councils for not doing enough.

Environment Minister Alun Michael urged local authorities to get their act in order after a survey showed that Britain's streets are getting dirtier and those in York-shire and Humber top the league of shame.

The research, carried out on behalf of the Govern-ment's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by Envir-onmental charity ENCAMS, showed a 12 per cent increase in fast-food litter nationwide and rated more than half the 10,000 sites surveyed as unsatisfactory.

Mr Michael announced that the Gov-ernment is considering how the tougher laws can be brought in to deal with flytipping and how various agencies can work together to stamp out the problem.

But council chiefs have also been blamed for failing to organise street-cleansing resources effectively enough to cope with the problem.

The ENCAMS survey found streets were being swept during the day when the obstruction of people, parked cars and cafez tables made the task more difficult.

Andrew Osborne, regional director of Keep Britain Tidy, part of ENCAMS, said: "Yorkshire and Hum-ber may be losing out on visitors and businesses choosing to relocate here because some councils don't plan properly, listen to their residents' concerns or equip their street cleaners with the tools for the job. They need to be a bit more flexible and adapt to our 24/7 society."

But in Bradford, the Coun-cil's executive member for environment, Councillor Anne Hawkesworth challenged the research.

"I am confident that Bradford is now a much cleaner and tidier place than it was two years ago," she said.

"We have made cleansing one of our top priorities and have increased the budget to up resources and make changes in working practices.

"Teams no longer work nine to five. They start earlier and finish later to keep up with demand."

She said the Council had considered moving towards a 24-hour operation but concerns had been raised about safety.

"They would have to work in double teams because it just wouldn't be safe for them to be out there alone at 2am and 3am" she said.

Coun Hawkesworth believed the Council, which spends £6 million a year on street cleansing, was doing all it could to contain the problem of grime on the streets of Bradford.

But she agreed tougher enforcement measures were now needed to stop people dropping litter in the first place.

"We are now putting extra resources into our new enforcement team and hope that will make a big difference," she said.

"People need to stop and think what they are doing.

"It really is sheer stupidity because in the end it is the people of Bradford who have to pay to get this mess cleared up."

Her message reinforces the Telegraph & Argus Bin It for Bradford campaign, launched to encourage communities to take pride in their areas.

Readers were invited to nominate the worst "grot spots" in the district and the information was passed to Bradford Council to be tackled by cleansing teams.

Flytipping and litter have been the most common complaints.