A push to make streets cleaner and restore parks to their former glory has been announced with a £500,000 investment.

Harrow Borough Council announced the half-million pound boost today as part of the new leader's pledge to make the borough a cleaner place to live.

Money has been earmarked for a number of areas including £100,000 for improved parks maintenance and £80,000 for teams to blitz litter hotspots and support volunteer initiatives.

Leader of the council, Councillor Susan Hall, said: “It is no secret that local people are fed up with litter-strewn streets, unsightly eyesore areas and parks so overgrown they might be a delight to Bear Grylls but no-one else.

“It is time to clean up the borough and return it to being a clean and safer place to live. That’s what residents rightly expect the council to do and we will deliver on that.

“People in Harrow will start to see the difference in streets and open spaces over the next few weeks. We are going to put the pride back into our status as one of the greenest boroughs in London.

“This investment is also good business sense. The aim is to make the recycling team self-funding if we can get enough waste recycled rather than going to landfill, where the authority has to pay fees.”

Up to £50,000 has been set aside to encourage people to take part in the Neighbourhood Champions scheme and they will be offered training and support.

Money will also be spent on extra town centre sweeping, on keeping parks and cemeteries locked at night and £90,000 will be spent on the creation of a recycling support team.

The start dates for the different parts of the scheme are yet to be announced but it is expected they will come into force in the next few weeks.