Bradford Council's Litter Awareness Week has been heralded as "an example to other local authorities" by the Yorkshire branch of the Tidy Britain Group.

On its final day Doug Sharpe, the charity's regional officer for Yorkshire, said the joint campaign with the Telegraph & Argus had been a shining example to neighbouring councils in the fight against litter.

The Tidy Britain Group is the recognised national agency for litter abatement which works to create a litter-free Britain.

Mr Sharpe said: "It's not often that you hear about local authorities devoting a whole week to this type of thing.

"In fact this may even be unique. It's the kind of area where there is a certain amount of apathy amongst some local authorities.

"This campaign is certainly the route most councils should be going down."

He said that by targeting all areas of the environment, not only litter but also waste removal and recycling, Bradford Council's cleansing department was fitting in with new Government regulations under the 'Best Value' initiative and sustainability scheme.

Mr Sharpe was speaking as the Litter Awareness Week and BinIt! approached its grand finale with a celebratory roadshow in Centenary Square, Bradford, today.

Earlier in the morning more than 25 cleansing workers and enforcement officers assisted by an army of members of the public took part in a giant community clean-up of the city's outskirts.

To finish the campaign off on a high note the winners of the Bradford Council/T&A Treasure Hunt competitions were also announced at the roadshow.

Every day this week cryptic clues appeared in the paper for the adult competition, directing entrants to litter bins throughout Bradford city centre which had a letter sprayed on it.

They had to collect five letters which spelt out a litter-related word or phrase.

The children got it a bit easier as all they had to do to find their letters was look for them in stories which appeared daily in the T&A.

Even though the week has come to an end, the Council's battle against the littler louts continues.

They say that people should remember when they are considering dropping a piece of rubbish - BinIt! instead.

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