WINTON councillors are seeking funding for an enhanced street cleaning service to try to deal with the area’s litter problem.

Councillors and residents say the amount of rubbish in the area is largely down to the high number of student homes and is more than council cleaners can cope with.

Students will take part in a mass litter pick on Friday, and councillors are looking for alternative funding sources to clean more roads, more often.

Winton East Cllr Pat Oakley said: “Litter is a major problem in Winton; it’s unsightly and expensive to remove.

“The high density of student let properties with four, five, six adults living in a house designed for a family obviously creates more rubbish than normal – it’s as simple as that.

“All it needs is for one wheelie bin to be knocked over and we have a street full of litter, it’s depressing. I live in Winton and see this problem every day.”

He said the council had introduced additional cleaning for Wimborne Road and the streets leading off it, which had helped, but said that streets further back also needed attention.

“Myself and my fellow Winton East councillors Johann Edward and Theo Stratton are working hard trying to find ways of increasing the frequency of street cleaning for the whole of Winton,” he said.

“Everyone knows that financially times are tough and funding is challenging so we are actively seeking alternative funding sources to pay for increased street cleaning in Winton.

“Make no mistake we are determined to get on top of the Winton litter problem. Winton residents deserve better.”