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NEWS that West Wiltshire was one ‘of just 12 councils across England to have received a 5 star grade from the 2009 Clean Britain Awards‘ has been announced as if it was some major achievement.

It sounds like it is until you delve a little deeper.

There are hundreds of local authorities in the UK but only a paltry 63 entered this award giving an almost 50 per cent chance of getting a five star grade.

The judges, we are told, spent an afternoon in a district, assessing against ‘a number of criteria including litter and fly-tipping, dog fouling. street furniture cleanliness, chewing gum and cigarette butt litter‘.

“They clearly didn’t come to Warminster by train otherwise our chances would have dropped like a stone as they walked through The Avenue of litter,” said former councillor Steve Dancey.

“We don’t know where they went - they could well have called at Chapmanslade or Corsley, as Mendip was also involved, and those villages are litter free.”

Litter, dog fouling and gum are poorly dealt with in this area and the lack of fly-tipping is town is down to the foresight of Wiltshire County Council in providing a recycling centre here.