COUNCIL chiefs in Worcester are winning the war on litter - with the city's streets deemed cleaner than one year ago.

After concerns about dropped rubbish, overgrown grass and untidy hedges extra efforts have been put into making the city look its best.

A new report has now been published revealing how the city council's quarterly inspection, known as the 'clean streets survey', has seen percentage rises across the board for those deemed in good condition.

In the three-month period to December last year 78 per cent of streets were deemed to be clear of waste, compared to just 69 per cent in the same period of 2013.

Some 87 per cent of grass surfaces were deemed to be trimmed properly, up from 66 per cent, while 85 per cent of hedges were up to scratch compared to 69 per cent in 2013.

Workers are now using new grass mowers which operate faster, allowing more parts of the city to be tackled, while the authority also teamed up with Worcestershire County Council late last year in a joint effort to address overgrown hedges.

The data is compiled by the public, who are asked to take away a questionnaire and spend time wandering the streets of Worcester to give feedback, before the city council compiles it into a report for councillors.

Councillor Andy Roberts, the cabinet member for cleaner and greener, said the figures are worth "crowing" about.

"For cleaner streets, grass cutting, hedges, the performance data has all increased and that's because we decided it's been under-invested in," he said.

"We decided to put more money in and it's got a result, but it's something we've got to keep up with."

The latest performance data also shows a slight drop in the number of people approaching the council for advice on being homelessness, from 172 to 164.

The opposition Labour group has pointed to the fact just 62 per cent of performance measures are at or above targets, compared to 87 per cent in 2013.

Visitor numbers at The Commandery were down from 4,902 to 3,320 although less school trips due to changes in the history curriculum is one big reason.

It also shows how a whopping 35 per cent of city residents contacting the Worcestershire hub contact centre had to get in touch more than once, compared to 18 per cent in the same period of 2013, with confusion over housing benefits blamed for the rise.

Councillor Richard Boorn, Labour's finance spokesman, said: "It isn't good enough - you have councillors out electioneering saying 'what a great job we're doing' but the overall figures don't show that.

"It's an appalling performance."

* What are the streets and hedges like where you live? Email te@worcesternews.co.uk.