SMELLY public loos, gum and grease stained pavements and elastic bands dumped by postmen and women are the some of the biggest problems found on the country's streets, parks, roads and open spaces, according to a survey published today.

The study, conducted by ENCAMS, which is behind the Keep Britain Tidy campaign and funded by the Government, also shows that dog mess and broken glass could be found in playgrounds; litter bins are not emptied; pavements are damaged and overgrown with weeds; landscaping is neglected and street lamps and signs need new paint.

The problem of toilet odour was greatest in the West Midlands, South East and North East England.

ENCAMS said that while all of this might seem grim news for councils, 50 per cent of the problems could be solved straight away without much effort.

Alan Woods, ENCAMS chief executive said: "Nobody wants to live in a dirty neighbourhood, not least because it sends out the message that no one cares and once you go down that road, you'll have higher crime rates before you know it.

''But given some commons sense and better planning, a lot of these difficulties could be overcome in double quick time.''

The Government has also created a new Performance Indicator based on the survey-so that every council taxpayer knows whether their local authority is up to scratch when it comes to cleaning their patch.

Mr Woods added: ''On the whole, councils work hard but they can be stuck in their ways sometimes and fail to realise that people in inner city housing estates can have different needs to those living in the suburbs.

''But it's also up to the public, too. Problems like litter aren't caused by councils - they are caused by people who are too lazy to use a bin."

How your local area rated

Yorkshire and Humberside

Yorkshire scored a poor in keeping pavements clear of obstructions, but it rated good on cleaning up fly-tipping, fly-posting, leaves, graffiti, and emptying litter bins.

The way councils cleaned up weeds and kept the areas around public toilets and train, bus and rail stations was deemed satisfactory. Landscaping and generally cleaning the streets of litter was however, rated unsatisfactory, as were many other aspects of local environmental quality.

North East

The public toilets stink in this region and were rated poor. There were also too many obstructions on pavements, which also scored bottom marks.

The way councils cleaned up fly-posting, graffiti, leaves and fly-tipping was rated good.

Keeping the area around public toilets clean was rated satisfactory, as was the way councils tackled weeds. Everything else, including the condition of litter bins and the maintenance of landscaping was considered unsatisfactory