RESIDENTS in Hartlepool are being warned they will be fined unless they clean up their act.

Council chiefs are targeting people who fail to put out and take in their rubbish bins at the right time. They have launched a campaign in a number of streets bordering the Burn Valley Gardens.

Residents have complained that rubbish is being blown about the streets, making the area look untidy as well as being an attraction for vermin.

The campaign is being organised by Hartlepool Borough Council's environmental action team whose staff have the power to issue £50 fixed penalty notices.

Environmental action manager Craig Thelwell said: "These areas have a particular problem with some people leaving out their bins in the back streets and this campaign is in direct response to complaints from resi- dents.

"When bins are left out, rubbish gets strewn about and causes a mess, to the detriment of other people."

The council sent out letters to more than 200 homes reminding people to put out their bins no earlier than the evening before the usual day of collection.

There has been an improvement following the appeal, but a minority of residents refuse to change their ways.

Mr Thelwell said: "Members of the environmental action team will be patrolling the area and issuing fixed penalty notices where they feel such action is appropriate.

"The message to householders is simple. If they keep their bins within their properties and only put them out at the right time then there will be no need for us to take any action and the neighbourhood will look much more attractive."

The campaign is to continue indefinitely and council chiefs said action would also be taken in other parts of the town experiencing similar problems.

John Bailey, chairman of the Burn Valley Residents' Association, welcomed the council action.

He said: "Most residents take particular pride in their homes and the surrounding area, but it only takes the actions of a few to drag the neighbourhood down."

Cleveland Police also back the move, warning that fraudsters have been known to target bins to gain financial information from unsuspecting householders.

They advised people to tear or shred important papers or documents before putting them in the bin.