A COUNCIL clampdown on litter has won acclaim from the top.

Government inspectors have praised Calderdale Council's work to clean up local streets and improve service at local tips.

But the Audit Commission has urged the council to do more to encourage people to throw away less rub bish.

The report says the council is working hard to stop people dropping letter and letting their dogs foul pavements.

Street sweeping has been reorganised to cut litter and there are better facilities and opening hours at sites dealing with household waste.

However, the amount of waste collected from homes is high and continues to grow faster than the regional and national average.

The Audit Commission awarded the council's waste management service one star out of a possible three and rated it fair with promising prospects for improvement.

Diane Neale, an Audit Commission spokesman, said: "Calderdale has been working hard to clean up the streets. Levels of recycling and composting in Calderdale have improved too, reducing the amount of waste being sent for landfill. But the council must do more to encourage local people to produce less waste."

The Inspectors found council was on track to achieve government targets for recycling and local people were satisfied with the current method of refuse collection via a black sacks collection.

But they also found the council had no clear plan in place to deal with rising levels of household waste, no published performance standards and customers had no real opportunity to provide feedback on the service or be involved in how the service should develop in the future."