A 45-STRONG group of youngsters has helped to stamp out crime and clean up a neighbourhood which once was plagued by vandals and littered with rubbish.

For their efforts the group -- called the Wacky Cleaners -- has been honoured for its work in a national competition. Reporter DAVID CROOKES reports on what the group has achieved.

"THEY used to call this place Beirut with windows," says Dawn Edwards, walking around Beechcroft Avenue, in Darcy Lever.

She points out every person she passes and gives them a cheery wave. Dawn appears to know everybody's name and they definitely all know her.

She stops however at the end of the street and her eyes move towards the bus terminus.

"That area used to be filthy," she says, finger jabbing. "It was full of graffiti, empty beer cans and needles."

Her speech is littered with the words "used to". For Dawn is one of the Wacky Cleaners who has made it her job over the past few years to rid the streets of trash.

And she does not only mean litter.

"One knock on effect of the clean-up job we've done," she begins proudly, "is the way we've managed to sweep drug users off the street.

"We haven't found a single needle in the past year."

When asked why, she looks almost puzzled and her mind starts to tick over the question.

Eventually she says she approached anybody suspected of dropping the needles and in the end they became so fed up with her they decided to take drugs elsewhere.

"At least, that's what I think," she adds.

More than 45 people -- most of them youngsters -- have taken to the streets of the Darcy Lever estate to stamp out crime and clean up the neighbourhood.

Their efforts have been rewarded with a top prize at the Nationwide Awards for Voluntary Endeavour in London, as reported in last Thursday's Bolton Evening News.

It is clear to see why. The streets are clean, gardens are neat and tidy and most of the graffiti has been washed away.

People obviously take pride in their surroundings and by getting youngsters involved the residents are able to keep the area in check.

If they spend hours donning gloves and picking up debris during their spare time, then they are less inclined to later undo their work. And besides, the immense peer pressure from those who do clean-up has a massive effect on those who mess-up.

Dawn points out a boy playing in the estate's skate park. A few months ago he attempted to burn a skate slide, she says, but he was stopped in the act by a resident.

Since then he has been banned from joining the Wacky Cleaners and he was effectively split from his friends.

He is now "as good as gold" -- realising bad behaviour has greater repercussions than a slap on the wrist.

Dawn has lived in the area for 11 years and has three children. Amy Lee, 12, and Natasha, nine, are Wacky Cleaners. Her eldest, Kieran, 17, used to be until he became a father.

"You can't teach your children everything," she says, smiling.

Together with her friend Teresa Bolton, aged 33, Dawn started cleaning up five years ago.

She said: "People were just getting sick and tired at how run-down the estate was getting.

"A few of us got together and started to tackle it. Before long we had a large team ensuring residents could live in a pleasurable environment -- one away from drug users and vandals."

Bins costing £500 have been placed in the street; nearby street Steele Gardens, boarded up and with just four residents, is on the verge of being pulled down; a fence adjoining a large field has been built to prevent flytippers from gaining access.

So what's next? Residents want speed humps because cars whizz through the streets at night at breakneck speeds.

They also want their homes re-pointed and new roofs on houses.

Dawn said: "The estate's not perfect yet, but we're getting there. I've lived around here for years. I don't want to leave. We're making sure nobody has to."