OVER 62 tonnes of rubbish have been cleared from the streets of Torfaen as part of a council-led spring clean campaign.

This month, Torfaen council employed 30 extra street cleaners alongside 250 volunteers for a two week ‘deep clean’ of the borough.

Around 300 bags of rubbish were cleared by volunteers around streets, parks, shopping centres and other hard to reach areas.

Executive member for neighbourhood services, Cllr John Cunningham, commended everyone who took park in the event, and described the response as "fantastic".

“Our crews work hard to keep the borough clean and I must thank them for the extra hours they have put in over the last few weeks," he said.

"Keeping our communities clean and free of litter is everyone’s responsibility and I would particularly like to thank the volunteers who gave their time to take part in spring clean events in their area. I would also like to thank Keep Wales Tidy for all of their support.”

The two-week long event, supported by Keep Wales Tidy, used the hashtag #TorfaenSpringClean which was seen by over 40,000 people online.

Torfaen Council leader, Anthony Hunt, added: “We have listened to residents who told us that a cleaner, greener borough is one of their top priorities, and we have invested an extra £250,000 annually into our front-line street cleansing services.

“The deep clean carried out by our staff, and the many bags of litter collected by volunteers, reinforces the fact that only by working together can we address the issue of litter and fly tipping in our communities.”