UNSIGHTLY scrawls, sticky gum and ground-in mess are being given nowhere to hide in Ipswich town centre with the start of work to spruce up shopping streets.

UNSIGHTLY scrawls, sticky gum and ground-in mess are being given nowhere to hide in Ipswich town centre with the start of work to spruce up shopping streets.

As part of the £3.2million business improvement district (BID) scheme aimed at improving the town centre and attracting new shoppers, a specialist graffiti removal squad has hit the streets to eradicate uncleanliness.

Despite Ipswich winning cleanest town of the year the organisation behind the BID, Ipswich Central, wants things even better and has allocated funds to employ the team to tackle a different “hotspot” area each week.

Already unsightly graffiti off Tavern Street has been removed, the top of Lloyds Avenue has been deep-cleaned and the seating area in St Lawrence Lane has been spruced-up.

Additional projects will include additional chewing gum removal and further street cleaning on Sundays and at the start of the week.

The work is undertaken in association with Ipswich Borough Council's Cleaning Team.

Paul Clement, executive director of Ipswich Central, said: “Businesses in the town centre are determined to make the area cleaner still over the coming months and years. “Work has started in earnest and the differences are noticeable already.”

Targeted cleaning is just one of a number of strands of the scheme which began at the start of the month.

It is hoped the five-year long BID, which raises money through a levy on town centre businesses, will make Ipswich more attractive as a shopping and working destination.

Initiatives such as free parking, customer service training and tree and shrub planting are aimed at making the town centre a nicer place to be as well as increasing the number of people visiting Ipswich shops.

The town centre is set to be boosted yet further by the opening of a new H&M store on the corner of Tower Street and Tavern Street next month.

The retail firm, which has more than 100 stores across the UK, is celebrating the opening of the new store in Ipswich by announcing that the first 200 customers will get £5 off of their first purchase over £5 on opening day only.

Other BID initiatives:

n> Town rangers

n> Digital radios across the town

n> Free parking

n> Targeted marketing campaign

n> Planting in 40 areas

n> Improved lighting

n> Customer service training for town centre businesses