STREET cleaners in York are streets ahead of their counterparts in other cities, according to new government figures.

City of York Council's street cleaning service provides some of the cleanest streets in the North at among the lowest costs.

The latest Audit Commission figures show that out of a group of 13 comparable councils, York has the second lowest cost for street cleaning.

Compared with ten unitary authorities in the North, York has the greatest percentage of streets at an acceptable level of cleanliness.

The cleaners have also been short listed in the British Cleaning Council awards, the results of which are due in March.

Proposals are now in hand to create a Street Environment Service, which would provide a more integrated approach to street cleansing and other street services.

Councillor Tracey Simpson-Laing, acting executive member for the environment, said: "The cleanliness of our streets will be independently assessed later this month by ENCAMS, the organisation formerly known as the Tidy Britain Group.

"This is part of the council's commitment to continuously improving a good service to reach an even higher level, in line with the scrutiny report the council commissioned on street cleansing and its recommendations published earlier in the year."

Updated: 10:58 Friday, December 06, 2002