THE council has vowed to come down hard on litterers who have made this Wirral street one of the borough’s messiest.

It comes after concerns were raised over New Chester Road in Rock Ferry, which has been plagued by swathes of litter, piles of broken glass and overflowing bins.

Wirral Council said the litter had not been reported, but now it is aware, the local authority will clear it up and do all it can 'to identify the culprits'.

Cllr Phillip Brightmore, cabinet member for environment, said: “We have a beautiful borough with world-beating parks, gardens and coastline. These are maintained by hard-working council staff and volunteers.

“These instances of fly-tipping will be investigated, the waste removed, and the perpetrators held to account.

"We saw just last week an irresponsible business fined £10,000 for committing similar offences.

"Labour simply will not tolerate environmental crime.”

The action comes after calls for extra bins on the road, as well as more awareness from residents and passers-by.

Local resident Ian Walker said some of the piles of glass and litter, which are all within half a mile of each other, had been there for 'a month' without being cleared, and that it was due to cuts to the council’s budget, handed down from central government.

He explained: “It makes it very difficult for elderly people or those with their children or pets to keep dodging the glass or rubbish.

“I’d like to see more bins or bottle banks along this stretch, as well as an effort to discourage people from throwing rubbish everywhere.

"There are fines and systems in place, yet there’s still loads of garbage.”

Mr Walker said that on Wednesday, he had counted 16 different areas of scattered glass within a stretch of less than half a mile of the Birkenhead road.

He added: “I walk this way to and from town.

"It’s one of the main thoroughfares into Wirral.

"What must people think, with litter all over the place?

"Is that the impression we want to give to our visitors?

“With a bit of a clean, this area could be really nice.”

Ward councillor Moira McLaughlin said she was 'pleased' Mr Walker had brought the issue to the council’s attention, and that the local authority was now dealing with the problem.

She said she would ask the council for more bins to be put in place and for them to be emptied more frequently, adding: “People need to stop dumping their litter as it does mean time and money is taken away from other vital services.

“Government cuts have led to deterioration in frequency of street cleaning.

"But when litter is dumped we as a council have a fairly robust way of dealing with that.

"Campaigns and prosecutions over the offence are frequent.”

It’s not the first time Wirral Council has clamped down on litter and rubbish in recent times.

Last week, company director John Hennessey was fined £10,000 after firefighters had to put out a huge bonfire of rubbish at land belonging to Birkenhead Commercial Limited, which sent plumes of toxic smoke billowing over the Wirral town.

And in February, two dog owners were made to pay £400 each after being caught letting their dogs mess on the street and then failing to pay a fixed penalty notice issued to them at the time.

Cllr Brightmore added: “An irresponsible minority fly tip, and we have put those people on notice.

"It beggars belief that some political parties want to turn a blind eye to this type of abuse.

"Well, Labour will not – I make no apology for cracking down on fly-tipping, littering and dog fouling.”