Harrow Council, police and trading standards were out in force this week on a mission to clean up Wealdstone high street.

The joint operation on Tuesday, April 26, saw council workers collect 19 fly tips - mostly containing black bags and furniture - and graffiti removed from litter bins.

The police and trading standards visited shops along the high street to ensure they were adhering to licensing laws, while people seen to be littering or spitting were handed fixed penalty notices.

The so-called "day of action " was a follow up to a previous operation in a bid to keep up standards in the area.

Cllr Sachin Shah, leader of Harrow Labour Group, who spent the morning with the teams, said residents should expect to see the different public sectors in Harrow working together to make the borough a better, more equal place to live.

He said: "Harrow residents can see we are out here on the street dealing with problems most people face on a daily basis - fly tipping, spitting, the selling of illegal alcohol.

"Days of action like this are here to stay and we will be doing them as much as we can, focusing on areas our residents expect us to focus on."

Cllr Shah, who vowed to tackle inequality when he was elected Labour leader earlier this month, said people in Wealdstone were likely to live six years fewer than people who live in Pinner despite the close proximity of the two communities.

He said: "It's about how we deal with these inequalities - using the licensing act, our rights as a planning authority, gambling licensing, our position as a public health authority and our ability locally as an education authority.

"The council needs to become more responsive to Harrow residents who feel that sometimes we just follow policy and say 'this is how we do things'.

"What we want is to use the council to be on the side of residents more.

"Through our regeneration projects we have £1.75 billion coming into the council and we can use this to deal with inequality responsibly. Harrow residents do not want to see housing everywhere but offset by the right number of schools and leisure facilities.

"Harrow's regeneration project is not just about creating houses but communities."