CLEANSING workers cleared out 120 tons of rubbish during a South Side clean up.

Environmental bosses targeted Govanhill in a month of action and they moved out 30 tons of waste each week.

A clampdown on fly-tippers and litter louts led to more than 760 warning letters being issued.

Gordon Smith, who works for City Property, is in charge of co-ordinating the Govanhill HUB, a group of agencies working in the area.

Mr Smith said: "What we hoped to get from this month-long increase in action against the problem was not just to clean up the area but also to see a change in behaviour from the people who are causing the issue."

Glasgow City Council has been doing daily spot-checks in Govanhill and engaged 65 local people and local primary school pupils to help with back-court clear outs.

More than 3000 leaflets were delivered to homes in Romanian, Slovakian and English explaining how to with waste.

Mr Smith said the drive has so far had a positive impact on anti-social behaviour with a 20% drop in incidents from the previous year.

He added: "The feedback so far is that people are seeing a difference and the hope is that these improvements can be sustained."

The move was part of the year-long EPIC initiative being run in Govanhill.

Organised by more than 20 different agencies, including Glasgow City Council, and led by Police Scotland, EPIC stands for Enforcement, Prevention, Intelligence and Communication. It ties in with the Evening Times Streets Ahead campaign which aims to make the city a cleaner, brighter place, with local communities working together to improve the environment.

Previous EPIC initiatives in other parts of the city have lasted for a month but Govanhill has been given 12 months of intense engagement, with an increased police presence in the area for the whole period.