IPSWICH has more work to do in tidying up its image - despite already being the cleanest town in the UK.Even though Suffolk's county town received the national accolade earlier this year Ipswich is still struggling to tackle the issues of litter and general untidiness on its streets.

IPSWICH has more work to do in tidying up its image - despite already being the cleanest town in the UK.

Even though Suffolk's county town received the national accolade earlier this year Ipswich is still struggling to tackle the issues of litter and general untidiness on its streets.

Today the authority charged with making our town tidier appealed to residents to do their bit - with Ipswich Borough Council insisting it could only do so much in the battle against street litter.

At the top of the list of concerns was the amount of cigarette buts, food wrappers and drink containers left on the streets.

Environmental campaign group ENCAMS has applauded the council's efforts in tackling graffiti, fly posting and flytipping but Ipswich continues to struggle to limit the amount of litter people drop on its streets.

In the Local Environmental Quality Survey of England (LEQSE), which was conducted for the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra), Ipswich's efforts on litter and general detritus on the streets, such as sand, grit and leaves, was said to be “unsatisfactory”.

Louise Gooch, Ipswich Borough Council's environment portfolio-holder, said: “We put a huge effort and a lot of money into trying to keep Ipswich clean but, of course, we need the support of residents and visitors.

“The vast majority of people don't drop litter and helped Ipswich win the cleanest town in the UK award.

“We are making a big difference, especially over graffiti and fly-tipping and we shall go on making more anti-litter improvements.

“I especially ask people to call our Cleaner Ipswich Hotline, 01473 433000 if they see a particular problem.”

ENCAMS found that of the rubbish found on Ipswich's pavements, litter left by smokers made up the majority of the waste. The majority of other items included confectionary packs, drinks cans, fast food related items and discarded food and drink.

Ipswich was named the Clean Britain Awards cleanest town in the UK in March, ahead of the Lewisham in London.

Elsewhere, Suffolk Coastal District Council also received “good” marks in tackling graffiti, flyposting and flytipping but just as in Ipswich it was deemed to be handling litter and detritus in its area unsatisfactorily.