Cleaning crews have spent the past eight weeks blitzing neighbourhoods across Peterborough, picking up litter, clearing fly-tipped waste and tidying-up overgrown bushes and hedges.

And the Peterborough City Council's £150,000 clean-up campaign has already seen huge amounts of litter being cleared from the city.

A staggering 198 tonnes of litter, sweepings and waste has been removed and 1,385 streets cleaned.

Graffiti has been scrubbed off 717 locations, 10 untaxed vehicles have been seized and 14 shopping trollies taken away.

Senior street scene officer for the city council Mark Horsley said: "The figures speak for themselves. The past eight weeks have been incredibly successful with operatives removing nearly 200 tonnes of litter from 1,385 streets.

"The feedback from residents has been really good. We have received a number of e-mails and letters from people saying how effective the Spring Clean has been, and we will continue to strive to make the city a much cleaner, pleasant environment in which all our residents will be proud to live."

Road sweeping vehicles and compact pavement sweepers have joined the six cleansing crews from the City Services department.

There have also been two graffiti units in attendance to remove any graffiti from council-owned property.

The Spring Clean campaign was first launched last year as an extra weapon in the battle to make Peterborough a cleaner, greener city, bolstering the existing clean-up operations that take place throughout the year.

Cabinet member for City Services at the city council David Sanders said: "The people working on the Spring Clean at City Services have done and continue to do a fantastic job.

"We are determined to make Peterborough a better place to live, work and visit, and this and other initiatives will go a long way to helping us achieve this."

Areas targeted so far include Werrington, Gunthorpe, Paston, Parnwell, New England, Dogsthorpe, Welland, Millfield, Central ward, Eastgate, Eastern Industry, Eastfield, Stanground, Woodston, Orton Waterville, Orton Malborne, Orton Goldhay, Orton Brimbles, Orton Wistow, Thorpe Road, Longthorpe, Netherton, West Town, Ravensthorpe, North and South Bretton and Westwood.

Last week the cleaning teams concentrated on villages surrounding Peterborough.

To boost the clean-up operations, next month the city council will launch a new initiative to make it easier to report problems, such as graffiti or overgrown shrubs, and ensure they are tackled when cleaning squads visit the area.

nResidents wanting to report any street cleansing issues can call the city council now on 01733 747474.