LITTER squad Kingdom have left Wirral after the contract with the council was terminated.

The agreement with the controversial environmental was set to run until at least 2021, but it’s been revealed officers could stop working in the borough as soon as today.

It’s a victory for people power, and comes after the recent public backlash against the team, who were thrown out of Liverpool last year.

Wirral Council has stressed the decision to be a mutual termination, not a “sacking”, with the firm reportedly “happy to walk away” as they are “unable to guarantee the safety of staff” on the streets.

That follows what the authority called a “series of incidents and many, many threats on social media”.

Kingdom employees were informed of the decision on Thursday morning.

Cllr Anita Leech, cabinet member for environment, said: “Residents have told us time and again how important clean streets are. They want us to tackle the small minority of people who think it is OK to drop litter, fly-tip, and allow their pets to foul the streets.

“This is why we launched our zero-tolerance policy towards this environmental crime. Our primary concern was and remains to protect our local environment, maintaining the area’s many beauty spots and improving areas where environmental crimes repeatedly take place.”

She said the goal of the Kingdom contract was to deter and punish those who commit environmental crime.

She added: “But it is clear the approach wasn’t right for everyone and so, after listening to the feedback and meeting with many residents, we have decided to end the contract by mutual consent.

“We will now take some time to reconsider our wider litter and dog fouling strategy. Later this year, we will launch an extensive consultation with residents to help develop a new method of prevention which works for local people and keeps our beautiful borough litter-free.”

Lib Dem Environment spokesperson Councillor Allan Brame told the Globe: "This climb down by Councillor Leech is obviously welcome.

"It had become increasingly obvious that the contract with Kingdom was just not achieving what people wanted.

"Liberal Democrats had requisitioned a special Council meeting to demand the Cabinet should terminate this contract and it seems the Labour group have decided to jump before being pushed.

"Under Kingdom, we have seen ever more complaints about residents being harassed and intimidated; people being handed £100 penalties for accidentally dropping small items like receipts; and businesses being hounded for minor infringements in the way records of trade waste are maintained.

"Meanwhile, most of the borough saw no reduction in the amount of dog fouling, while Kingdom’s officers largely concentrated their efforts in Birkenhead town centre

"I hope the Labour group has now recognised the folly of going down the route of privatised law enforcement by a company that took huge sums out of Wirral’s economy."

Commenting on the news that Kingdom are being kicked out of Wallasey Conservative councillor Paul Hayes said: "The ruling Labour Party in Wirral abandoning their association with Kingdom will be welcome news to many Wirral residents, but why has it taken so long?

"Communities across Wirral will know that it was Labour who brought Kingdom to Wirral and, up until today, defended their tactics.

"It seems that the council sanctioned plan for Kingdom to target traders in Wallasey Village, New Brighton and elsewhere was the final straw.

"I congratulate all the traders and business owners, whose campaign against unfair trade waste fines, has seen the contract with Kingdom cancelled.

"Too much time and money has been wasted on this ill fated contract with Kingdom.

"It's time the council came up with a proper plan to keep our streets litter and dog muck free, not just wait until after the local elections and kick the issue into the long grass."