A group of community-spirited residents has joined forces to tackle anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping in their neighbourhood.
The residents from Thursby Road, in Abington, Northampton, have held several meetings about the problems and have vowed to take action in order to restore a sense of pride in the area.
Recently there has been an increase in graffiti and fly-tipping in the alleyways that back onto the houses, incidents where loud music has been played late at night and early in the morning, littering, and shouting and drinking in the street.
Rats have also been spotted in the area.
The group met on Sunday morning, armed with gloves and litter-pickers, to clean up rubbish dumped in the alleyways. They were joined by a warden from Northampton Borough Council.
Thursby Road resident, Jo Kennard, said: “We did a big street clean-up about five years ago. We did the alleys then and they were spotless. We’re doing it again because it is starting to look messy.
“Once it starts to look nice, people start to respect it a bit more. It is about pride in your neighbourhood, and looking after your neighbours.
“It’s also a great opportunity to get to know your neighbours.
“We will carry on meeting and will do the alleys once every two months.
“We have also set up a landlord database, so if there are any problems with tenants, we can go straight to the landlord.”
The residents’ group in Thursby Road is aiming to get as many people as possible on board to resolve the issues in future, and create a harmonious environment for all who live there. A spokesman for the group said: “We are happy to meet with other residents in the area as we are keen to get everyone working together to make the area one that we are proud to live in” For more information email the group on abington.residents@hotmail.co.uk.