As green as green can be; Schoolchildren in North Tyneside are helping turn the borough green. AMY HUNT finds out more.

Byline: AMY HUNT

NORTH Tyneside Council has launched an autumn initiative aiming to tackle leaves and litter.

And it has enlisted the help of the area's little green champions to help out.

Any school which collects 20 full bags of leaves will receive two floral barrel planters, while the two schools that collect the most will win a makeover. All the leaves collected will be composted.

So far 10 schools have signed for the campaign, which includes extra street sweeping patrols, community clean-ups and composting in the borough's parks.

The aim of the project is to reduce the amount of litter and fallen leaves in the North Tyneside area as they can become slippery and a hazard if left lying around.

North Tyneside's Mayor Linda Arkley said: "We want the daily experience of living in North Tyneside to be the best in the country.

"As part of that, we are determined to provide cleaner and greener neighbourhoods.

"That's why our autumn initiative features extra resources to tackle litter and an opportunity for schools to benefit from additional floral displays.

"We're also planning to clear up more leaves than ever before as we know that when they are on pavements and slippery, they can cause problems for residents, particularly the elderly."

The campaign, which runs until December 11, will see four extra street sweeping vehicles out removing leaves and litter from pavements and roads.

Park wardens will be carrying out leaf and litter collection in parks and composting any leaves gathered.

The schools have been invited to collect leaves from within their grounds and nearby surrounding areas. The council will provide two fullyplanted floral barrels to every school that collects 20 full bags.

The school that collects the most will receive a grounds makeover worth pounds 500 from Complete Growth, a councilrun project based in Wallsend, which offers training to people with learning disabilities, while the second placed school will receive a pounds 250 makeover.

Community groups are being invited to get involved in leaf and litter clean-ups and will be offered a tree for every two full bags collected.

The trees will be planted by council staff in areas agreed with the groups.

Every supermarket and business in the borough will also be written to, reminding them of their responsibilities for litter around their premises and their duty of care relating to refuse storage and collection.

As part of the campaign council workers helped dismantle a drinking den within the grounds of Balliol Primary School, Longbenton, which was being used outside of school hours.

Green wardens gave the wooded area a makeover and clean-up with the help of Community Support Officers from Forest Hall police station.

The work followed concerns from Northumbria Police about anti-social behaviour at the site outside of school hours.

It was in support of the council's autumn environment campaign, which tackles leaves and litter across the borough.

Later this year, the green wardens and school pupils, will be installing nesting boxes in the newly improved area in a bid to attract wildlife.

Headteacher Fiona Downes said: "We are so pleased to be working closely with the police and council staff to improve the environment of our school. It's a real community effort.

"We are very keen to stamp out any antisocial behaviour on our site.

"The hard work of this team is helping us with that aim.

"In addition they have provided us with a new learning environment with established plants and trees, which is very natural and ideal for investigation and discovery.

"Later in the year, the council will be working with our pupils to put up bird boxes which we hope will attract a range of woodland species."

Coun Ed Hodson, cabinet member for the environment, said: "We are determined to make North Tyneside as clean and green as it possibly can.

"I'm pleased that our team, in partnership with the police, has tackled the problem of this drinking den, transforming the area into a more pleasant place to enjoy."

Killingworth Neighbourhood Inspector Paul Young said: "We have responded to residents' concerns about drinking dens and we are taking action with our partners to destroy them so they cannot be rebuilt.

"They are often precarious and can be dangerous.

"We know youngsters are using them to drink alcohol under shelter and hidden from view. "We want to prevent underage drinking as it often leads to youth disorder and can make these children vulnerable.

"If you have information about a drinking den in your community please contact your local neighbourhood policing team on 03456 043 043 ext 69191."

The work was carried out on Tuesday, 20 October by green wardens Richie Barnes and Chris Dominiczak, as well as Community Support Officers Tim Cousins and Michelle Rosemurgey. One hundred extra dog bins have also been installed across North Tyneside in problem areas and places where previous requests have been made for bins.

And the council is on target to cut the grass on highway verges and open spaces an average of 21 times this year.

TEAMWORK - Richie Barnes with CSOs Tim Cousins and Michelle Rosemurgey, headteacher Fiona Downes and Balliol TRICKY OPERATION - tree surgeon at work