Borough that's cleaning up its act

One of the dirtiest boroughs in London is resorting to naming and shaming its filthiest streets in an attempt to stop traders illegally dumping their rubbish.

In what is believed to be the first scheme of its kind in the capital, Hackney council has launched a blitz on its "streets of shame" where dumping of trade waste has become endemic.

Despite having one of the worst records on refuse collection, Hackney claims much of the rubbish comes from shops and businesses who have failed to employ a contractor to collect it or who have put out more than they have agreed to.

Chris O'Leary, chairman of Hackney's housing and environment service committee, said: "We want them to follow the example of good traders who do make proper arrangements for their rubbish to be cleared. We will be concentrating on these streets to get this problem sorted. We call on the public to help us root out these antisocial people."

The streets' names will be published in the council's own newspaper Hackney Today, which is delivered free to every household in the borough. The public are encouraged to keep a watch on those streets and report any suspicious dumping.

The 21 shamed by the council are: Hoxton Street, Broadway Market, Kingsland Road, Well Street, Lauriston Road, Mare Street, Narroway, Dalston Lane, Graham Road, Amhurst Road, Ridley Road, Lower Clapton Road, Chatsworth Road, Clarence Road, Kingsland High Street, Stoke Newington Road, Stoke Newington High Street, Stamford Hill, Clapton Common, Blackstock Road and Amhurst Park.

The council says it will not hesitate to take out prosecutions which can lead to fines of up to £5,000 or even prison terms. However these can be difficult to pursue because evidence is hard to gather. Traders who do not have a refuse contract with the council are not obliged to prove that they have one with other rubbish collectors.

Council officers already sift through illegally dumped rubbish to find evidence of where it has come from, but some traders are wise to this and actually deface their rubbish to hide letter heads and logos.

Hackney is planning to target the 21 streets for surveillance by environmental health officers. A council spokesman said: "Most of the waste you see on the streets comes from commerce rather than individuals. Some traders produce as many as 30 bags a day. It only needs three or four of these bags to split open for it to cause a terrible mess."

Hackney's refuse collection service was branded one of the worst in London last year when the Audit Commission found that 692 collections out of 100,000 were missed.

The situation deteriorated when a deficit of £40 million in the borough's finances led to 7ft-high piles of black sacks left uncollected in the streets. The service has since been privatised and the Shame the Street scheme is one of the new initiatives launched by the contractor Serviceteam.

Christopher Harris, London director for the Tidy Britain Group, welcomed the move but said it needed to be followed by tough sanctions. He said: "It's a good idea in principle but they need to back it up with other action. It's a good way of getting it home to people that this behaviour is not acceptable."

Anyone with information about rubbish dumping in Hackney can call the Hackney Waste Line on 0208 985 4681.