A mountain of waste weighing nearly 250 tonnes has been cleared from the streets of Bradford.

The massive Big Sweep scheme to clear Bradford's grot spots has seen 248 tonnes of waste cleared from the area in less than a month.

The waste removed weighs the same as around 45 elephants and was cleared by Bradford Council staff working together with voluntary groups and local residents.

The largest amounts of waste were cleared from the areas of Frizinghall, Lilycroft and Lidget Green - with more than 93,000 kilograms, the same weight as an Airbus A321-200 aeroplane, cleared from these sites.

And the total looks set to increase with more clean-ups planned over the coming weeks.

Richard Wixey, director of environmental services, said: "The Big Sweep has been tremendously successful as demonstrated by these figures.

"In most areas we had a great deal of support from the community and people took the opportunity to make a fresh start in their area." The Council is also in the process of securing extra cash so that the positive effects of the Big Sweep continue to be felt throughout the city.

The spring clean was initially funded by a £340,000 grant from the priority support fund. Since then it has been allocated an extra £550,000 at the Council's last budget meeting.

This money will be spent improving the Council's Street Scene services.

Environmental bosses are also hopeful of securing a slice of the recently secured cash from the Government's Safer and Stronger Communities fund.

The Big Sweep continued apace in the Bolton and Undercliffe areas this week, with Council workers teaming up with the Friends of Peel Park and the King's Park Residents' Association.

The day-long clean-up saw streets swept and cleared as well as the clearing of large-scale fly-tipping sites.

Janet Attwood, of the Friends of Peel Park group, was one of those who took part in the clean-up.

She said: "I went round with a grabber and a bag and helped out.

"From my point of view the guys who help to clean the park do a good job. They seem to take it seriously and there are lots of bins - it's looking a lot tidier.

"Two-hundred-and-fifty tonnes of waste is pretty shocking.

"I think individuals have to take responsibility as well as the guys who are paid to do the job."

The Big Sweep will be in Wibsey, Low Moor, Eccleshill and Idle this weekend.

Next week the Council will be targeting Manningham, Moorhead Road car park, Bradford Road, Frizinghall and Lower Baildon.