OUR streets became the centre of attention when close to 20 brave souls showed they meant business when it came to cleaning up rubbish and litter
IT may have got off to a slow start but thanks to plenty of muscle power from the recently launched Love Barrow Town Centre group, initiated by Barrow Bid, the latest Big Clean turned out to be a big success despite the miserable conditions.
Friday afternoon saw Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock and members of the LBTC, Barrow Borough Council, Cumbria County Council, Furness Peninsula Rotary Club and The Mail exploring the town centre to pick up any litter they came across.
And after more than two hours, they had made a real difference.
Dalton Road seemed very clean apart from a lot of cigarette butts and discarded shopping receipts. But when the splinter groups moved to the streets off the main shopping street, there was plenty to find.
Bid member and Marks and Spencer Barrow store manager, Simon Craig, said: "We came across a lot of tie wraps, old posters from past events, discarded car mats in car parks, receipts, pieces of carpet and so many cigarette butts, especially under the seating areas.
"We can't really understand why because there are rubbish bins all the way along and all people have to do once they finish their cigarette is get up and go a few steps to a bin.
"We really have to change people's perception that it is the council's job to clean up the rubbish. It's all about having pride in your town and changing people's behaviour.
"If people find rubbish blown into their garden, they clean it up, so why not the rubbish in the street?
"We are not trying to take anything away from the professional street cleaners but we all need to be tidy."
Mr Craig, who was working with Bid manager Phil Collier, said that they were going to get permission to clean up the empty shop units.
And he said it was not just individuals needing to take responsibility for the state of the town but businesses as well.
Mr Craig said they were very pleased with everyone's efforts in the Big Clean and he was looking forward to working again with Rotary, which plays an important role in keeping the area tidy.
Mr Woodcock, a regular on Big Cleans, managed to keep smiling despite the rain.
He said: "I know residents have been driven mad by the amount of rubbish in the town since the new bins contractor came in so I was determined to be part of this Love Barrow Town Centre Big Clean.
"We've been promised that problems in the town centre area itself have been sorted now - and the area did indeed look much better as we went around in our natty T-shirts provided by The Mail.
"But this was a really worthwhile push, as it hopefully underlines to the public that everyone understands how important it is to keep our community clean and tidy and put the problems with the new contractor behind us.
"I want to say a big thanks to everyone involved who showed they are prepared to take action to keep our streets clean."
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