Information on street care and cleaning in Northumberland, litter collection information, disposing litter and removing dead animals from the streets.

Street cleaning and care

The council's Neighbourhood Environmental Action Teams (NEAT) are responsible for keeping public roads and pavements in Northumberland clear of litter, leaves, grit and debris.

There is a regular programme of cleansing of the highways, pavements and other council-owned areas, working to a priority system. Residents are invited to contact the council to report issues of heavy littering, dumping or spillages. 

Street care & cleaning service documents

Document name	File size	Last updated
Graffiti Fly Poster Removal Policy Document November 2010	189 KB	17/11/2010 15:03
NCC public open spaces	149 KB	14/01/2013 12:02

Neighbourhood services litter collection information

Northumberland County Council has a legal duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to act as the litter authority for Northumberland.

This responsibility includes: 

• street cleaning 
• litter collection 
• removal of detritus 
• fly-posting 
• graffiti 
• fly-tipping on public land maintained by the council 

The cleansing programme is based on requirements set out in the code of practice on litter and refuse 2006, including types of land, zoning, response times and responsibilities of authorities.   

Accurate and systematic monitoring of street cleanliness is constantly carried out to identify when and where litter problems are likely to occur, putting procedures in place to maintain standards.   

Maximum effort for street sweeping is concentrated in the town centres, where there is the highest volume of people working and shopping. More outlying areas require less effort to keep them clean.   

Experience has highlighted ‘hot spots’ throughout the area which need extra. In addition to the street sweeper, the council uses street vacuum cleaners and a range of mechanical sweepers, large and small.

Litter removal from A1 & A19 highways within Northumberland

The council is responsible for removing litter and detritus from all ‘A’ roads within Northumberland, including the sections of the A1 and A19.   

The Highways Agency’s contractor A-one+ cuts the grass, repairs fences and fills potholes on the A1 and A19. Northumberland County Council are responsible for removing litter from the verges and central reservations.    Northumberland County Council endeavours to remove litter and detritus from ‘hot spot’ areas on major roads in Northumberland at least once a year. However, the division of responsibility presents a number of difficulties.   

If there is no pavement or safe access, permission has to be obtained from the Highways Agency to carry out lane closures. To avoid congestion and achieve journey time reliability targets, the agency often requires closures to take place at night.   

To deal with the challenges of safe working on high speed roads at night, we work in partnership with A-one+, the Highways Agency contractor, to carry out staff inductions, allowing our cleansing teams to take advantage of scheduled traffic management and lane closures already arranged by A-one+. 

• To report a litter ‘hot spot’ on the A1 or A19 or any other major road within Northumberland, call 0345 600 6400 or report online. 

Grades of cleanliness

The graded standards shown below are used to monitor the cleanliness of areas.

For litter and refuse

Grade	Definition
4	No litter or refuse
3	Mostly free of litter and refuse apart from some small items
2	Widespread distribution of litter and/or refuse with minor accumulations
1	Heavily affected by litter and/or refuse with significant accumulations

For detritus (mud, soil, grit etc.): 

Grade	Definition
4	No detritus
3	Predominantly free of detritus, except for light scattering
2	Widespread distribution of detritus with minor accumulations
1	Heavily affected by detritus with significant accumulations

• To report litter or request street cleansing, call 0345 600 6400.