Brushing up on tidiness

Leith spick and span in the old-fashioned way

Street cleaning

Barrow staff are back on the beat, cleaning up Leith the good old-fashioned way.

Unlike the cleansing teams who use mechanical sweepers, barrow staff do all the cleaning with just a brush and sheer elbow grease. So they are in constant contact with the local community.

Peter Keenan is one of 11 barrow staff working in Leith.

“People get to know your face,” he said. “It’s good to be appreciated when you are knee-deep in it every day.”

The barrows were reintroduced because it was proving difficult for street cleaning vehicles to park in high-density areas such as Leith.

The approach has been having a real impact. The latest Council neighbourhood survey showed that satisfaction with Council dealing with litter and rubbish across the city was up at 65 per cent, up almost 10 per cent on last year’s result.

In just ten days, bosses in Leith received four letters of thanks from the public.

“The barrows help the other guys to do their jobs quicker,” said Colin Groundswater, task force manager for Leith.

“I think they are doing a marvellous job and helping the other staff.”