BASINGSTOKE council is asking people in Oakridge to clean up the "pig sties" in some of their streets.

The state of the area's streets was the main issue raised at a meeting of Oakridge Residents Association last month, where Oakridge councillor George Hood was grilled by the public.

More than 20 residents attended the meeting to quiz Mr Hood about the borough council's activities.

The main complaint residents made was the level of rubbish.

Cllr Hood said letters had been sent to all residents in Oakridge asking them to clean up in front of their houses.

"We need to get people to work with us," said Cllr Hood. "You walk past some houses and they are absolute pig sties."

The Gazette revealed earlier this year how the cleaning bill for all of the borough's streets had topped £1 million for the first time.

Cllr Hood told residents that a new plan was being put into practice to deal with the rubbish problem.

Mr Hood said: "We are starting a programme of blitz cleaning where more people and more funds will be thrown at the problem.

"A team of people will be allocated to one area and given the freedom to clean it using a method that they will be able to devise themselves."