A CLEAN-UP is being launched on Teesside today.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and Coast and Country Housing is hoping to tidy up Ormesby, Normanby and Eston, and will clear fly-tipped rubbish, litter, overgrown shrubs, weeds, graffiti and drug addicts' discarded needles.

Teams will also clean up housing estates managed for the council by Coast and Country Housing.

Councillor Bob Stanway said: "We are attempting to improve the environment of the whole area, tackling cleaning and grounds maintenance issues, irrespective of whether the problem lies on council or Coast and Country land."

The squads will work for seven days, and council tenants will be asked for their opinions on the project.

Coast and Country chief executive Iain Sim said: "We are surveying tenants now, then repeating the exercise in January to assess the partnership's impact.

"If the pilot is a success, and we see no reason why it should not be, it is hoped to develop the initiative across Redcar and Cleveland.

"Our new environment protection measures are very strict, with a two-hour deadline for our staff to act between receiving a complaint about anti-social behaviour, such as discarded needles, graffiti and rubbish, to getting the issue sorted."