Over the coming months, two new street washers will be used on every street in the city centre, removing engrained stains and pieces of discarded chewing gum.

Three new electric washers can also be used to wash grime off streets, but they will also clean benches, bins and the nooks and crannies that the bigger machines cannot reach.

Six compact sweepers have begun clearing up the debris left during the night every morning.

Attachments mean the mechanical sweepers can also clear weeds from the kerbside, and be converted into street-washing machines.

Deputy mayor Elly Cutkelvin said: ‘In an ideal world, litter, chewing gum and food waste would all be placed in one of the 200+ bins we have in the city centre, but unfortunately far too much of it ends up on our streets, creating stains that can be tough to shift.

‘Keeping the city centre clean is a daily challenge, but with this investment in new, state-of-the-art equipment, I hope people will see that we’re committed to making the city centre a clean and welcoming place – and help us keep it that way.’

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