A DOSSIER of dirt today re-ignited the war of words over York Pride.

Labour slapped the information about city street cleaning on Councillor Steve Galloway's desk in response to a "put up or shut up" challenge from the Liberal Democrat leader of City of York Council.

The dossier contains photographs of kerbside rubbish, unswept roads, leaf litter and uncollected bin bags at sites across the city.

Labour councillors say this backs up complaints that some York streets are not being cleaned as part of the flagship York Pride project - despite repeated calls to the council.

Opposition leader Coun Dave Merrett said the dossier was aimed at answering a call from Coun Galloway for hard facts about street cleanliness.

Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Andrew Waller said the ruling group was studying the dossier claims to see if they tallied with complaints on the York Pride hotline.

He defended City of York Council's record on cleaning streets and said Government targets were being met early.

But Coun Merrett, who complained about ward audits on street cleaning being "vague and woolly", said: "When we originally voiced concerns about street cleaning failures Coun Galloway suggested these comments were baseless and we were asked to substantiate their claims.

"This document does just that."

Coun Merrett said: "The Lib Dems appear totally unwilling to accept criticism."

He acknowledged the work carried out by the Lib Dems on York Pride since last year's election. But he said the Lib Dems had to face up to complaints and admit there were problems in some parts of the city.

The dossier shows photographs of "trouble spots" in Clifton and Holgate, between last Christmas and this summer.

It also contains written reports of complaints in South Bank, Fishergate and Hull Road.

Coun Waller said a new computer logging system would allow the council to analyse environmental information in greater detail and target problem areas.

"Labour have their own political agenda to pursue and we have got on and made the city much tidier," he said.

Updated: 09:54 Thursday, September 16, 2004