A CLEAR-UP operation to remove rubbish and graffiti in Tranmere and Rock Ferry has been hailed a major success by its organisers.

Wirral's Mayor Cllr Chris Meaden lent a hand to Tranmere Together Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder's two-week campaign last Thursday.

She said: "I was helping out with a graffiti clear-up in Old Chester Road. It was great to get involved in this project and see issues such as graffiti being tackled head-on."

As well as removing graffiti, the scheme also involved a bulky waste removal service that collected more than 90 tonnes of household items.

This included around 30 tonnes of scrap metal and over 150 'white good' items such as fridges and freezers.

The demand for the service from the 5,500 Tranmere and Rock Ferry households was so high that the collection teams worked until 10pm on some evenings and into the following Saturday to clear all the items left out for them.

Other elements of the clean-up involved tidying up throughout the area and removing graffiti at more than 60 sites in Rock Ferry and Tranmere. Residents were responsible for identifying clean up areas and cases of graffiti that were phoned through to the clean up teams. A further 80 tonnes of dumped items and litter were removed from grot spots and following the clean up a further dozen litterbins will be installed in the neighbourhood.

Neil Collins, project director said: "The whole clean-up went really well and I would like to thank everyone involved in making it a success, in particular local residents for supporting it so enthusiastically.

"The event was a simple, practical example of what can be achieved when funding from Together supports the efforts of local people working in partnership to improve their neighbourhood."

Mr Collins also emphasised that tackling waste and graffiti will be an important element of Together's ongoing work in the area in the future.

Together is one of 35 Government-funded Pathfinder neighbourhood management schemes across the country. It aims to improve the quality of life in the Tranmere and Rock Ferry areas.