Hartlepool pupils supporting Home Office project to clean up streets congratulated by Cleveland Police Commissioner

Year five and six pupils at Lynnfield Primary School have created signs to remind residents to bin their litter and to stop their dogs from fouling the roads and pavements.

They have been put on lamp posts and newly-revamped alley gates close to the school as part of a wider campaign to combat anti-social behaviour and crime in the neighbourhood.

The pupils produced the artwork for the signs in a competition run by the Safer Streets 5 initiative prior to Christmas.

Safer Streets 5 is a project using more than £335,000 of Home Office Funding for a series of measures in the Victoria ward.

It is run by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) in partnership with Hartlepool Borough Council, and Thirteen Housing.

PCC Matt Storey met up with Lynnfield pupils to see how they are helping to improve community pride.

Mr Storey said: “This initiative is all about tapping into young people’s natural enthusiasm for protecting their local environment. 

“It’s only with that sense of pride and ownership that communities become stronger, more united and more confident.”

Improving the area through clean-ups, litter picks and enforcement action has been a key feature of Safer Streets 5 over the past few months.

Councillor Karen Oliver, chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s neighbourhood services committee and a Victoria Ward councillor, said: “It is important that we all pull together to tackle issues such as litter and dog fouling which can have a seriously corrosive effect on neighbourhoods and adversely affect residents’ quality of life.

“The children and staff at Lynnfield Primary School are setting a wonderful example to the rest of us and I am so proud of how they are taking a lead on these very important issues.

“The message is clear – bag it, bin it. Please do not litter our streets.”

Every year, the council collects about 900 tonnes of waste and litter which hasn’t been properly disposed of in a bin.

That’s in addition to the community efforts of Hartlepool Big Town Tidy Up volunteers who last year collected over 10,000 bags of litter across the town.