DESCRIBED as Suffolk's “shop window”, the busy A14 is to get its very own dedicated squad of cleaners.The two-man team will do nothing else apart from keeping the verges and lay-bys of the A14 spic and span on the stretch through Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury.

DESCRIBED as Suffolk's “shop window”, the busy A14 is to get its very own dedicated squad of cleaners.

The two-man team will do nothing else apart from keeping the verges and lay-bys of the A14 spic and span on the stretch through Forest Heath and St Edmundsbury.

The squad will have its own specially-equipped vehicle and will not be responsible for looking after anything other than the A14.

Until now, a single contractor has been responsible for clearing the verges and lay-bys across the whole of Suffolk.

The A14 team is being set up as part of a new joint waste authority in west Suffolk which will see a merging of the waste and cleaning teams of Forest Heath District Council and St Edmundsbury Borough Council.

Peter Stevens, St Edmundsbury Borough Council cabinet member for the environment and street scene, said: “Quality of life rests heavily on maintaining a clean, green environment.

“It helps greatly that our two districts are both physically similar and strongly committed to continuous improvement in waste and street scene services.”