NEW litter hit squads set up to tackle Glasgow’s ‘rubbish mountain’ can only be successful if citizens play their part, warns the City Council leader.

Councillor Frank McAveety, who revealed plans for a tough crackdown on fly tippers and litter louts in yesterday’s Evening Times, said: "We are no longer in the position where the City Council can deliver everything on its own.

“The people of Glasgow have got to buy in to the strategy of keeping the city clean as well."

He added: “They have to be far more disciplined about what they do with their bulk rubbish for disposal, for example.

“They have to play their part.”

Central to the city council’s new litter strategy is the rapid-response Environmental Task Force.

It will comprise 30 teams, typically made up of specialists focussing on graffiti removal, public health issues, noise, improving roads, dog fouling and littering.

Real time information from Facebook and Twitter will be gathered at a state-of-the-art command centre in Bridgeton. Teams will then dispatched to tackle the issues as quickly as possible.

In addition, the city’s 21 wards will be grouped into four Task Force Cycles. An ETF team will arrive in a ward each week and work on that area before starting the whole process again in a new ward the following week.

Councillor McAveety admits to feeling “frustrated” about the city’s litter problem.

“This is a response to the queries I get from people who tell me the city sometimes doesn’t look as good as it should,” he said.

"People in Glasgow love their city. Keeping its reputation as 'the dear green place' is in our DNA, we all want to make sure it looks great. But there are some people in some areas who unfortunately don't do what they should.

"And there will be an enforcement side to the task force - persistent offenders will have to be taken to account."

He added: “We are trying to improve our delivery of services to the people of Glasgow and cleaning up the rubbish left on our streets is an area we can do better.”

“Of course, people might say that they have heard all this before.

“But this is different because firstly, it is a service that is fit for delivery in the digital age.

“We want genuine engagement with the people of Glasgow, we want to work with them.

“Twitter and Facebook mean we can directly communicate with people, who can tell us what needs done, and the technology at Eastgate means we can zoom in and pinpoint problems right away.”

He added: “And secondly, this is a dedicated team, able to respond quickly.”

The council hopes to work in partnership with all of the city’s housing associations.

Councillor McAveety said: “We already have great partnership working with housing providers but we want to build on it.

“So far we have had extremely positive feedback from the associations who are as keen to see things change as we are.

“Let’s get everything on the table to make sure people see we are making a difference – that things are changing.”

As part of the programme, unemployed people of all ages from across the city will be trained up as ETF officers.

Councillor McAveety said: “The first trainees are incredibly enthusiastic about being able to make a difference and improve their city

“The trainees will come from all backgrounds and will be of all ages, so it could be people returning to work after unemployment or young people looking to learn new skills – it will be a fantastic opportunity.”

The council leader is keen to stress that the Environmental Task Force will not replace the city’s massive rubbish operation.

“Glasgow empties 23 million bins a year - that’s 300,000 tons of rubbish collected every year,” he said.

“The Task Force is a strategic add-on which will target the rubbish which has been dumped on your street.

“I am determined to make this work. The Task Force will deliver. The people of Glasgow deserve that.”