LITTERBUGS continue to plague Bolton and thwart the council's efforts to clean up the town.

Town hall bosses admit there has been no reduction in the amount of trash dropped in the streets and gutters despite a structured education programme.

And Bolton's smokers have been blamed for much of the litter which is scattered around the town.

Jeff Layer, assistant director of environmental management, said: "This is not just a problem caused by young people.

"A major part of the litter we collect is connected with smoking. Young children don't smoke, so it must be down to older people."

The grim news comes after the traditionally busy period over Christmas for Bolton's binmen and street cleaners drew to a close.

About 5,000 tonnes of street rubbish and household waste were collected in two weeks over the festive period, but there are no figures to show what tonnage of litter was swept up.

Cleansing teams were pushed to the limit as they cleared the litter eyesore away, particularly in the central nightlife areas around Bradshawgate, Churchgate and Bank Street. Their increased workload meant that areas on the outskirts of the town were not cleaned as often.

Mr Layer says the problem is not confined to the festive season and is blighting the town centre each weekend, with plastic cartons and chip papers scattered about.

He added: "The amount of litter is not reducing despite it being an offence to drop litter and the council having implemented a number of educational programmes.

"The public is not responding and that is really sad from our point of view. It's just a case of people throwing away money because the ones who drop litter are ultimately paying for us to pick it up."

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