SPY cameras are to be installed at fly-tipping hotspots to crack down on offenders.

CCTV cameras will be placed around rubbish-strewn parts of Blackburn and Darwen as councillors vowed to restore civic pride and get rid of grot spots.

Residents in the borough have been asked to report anybody they see littering to the council so they can prosecute or impose fines.

A council meeting was told that councillors were being inundated with calls from people fed of up of streets being strewn with glass, country lanes clogged up with rubbish and trash dumped in back alleys.

Mayor-elect Tony Humphrys said: "We have had campaigns in the past to tidy up the borough and I think it is time to do it again."

The council's cleansing department has teamed up with the Environment Agency to find the people responsible for regularly fly-tipping in areas.

Coun Mohammed Khan, in charge of housing and neighbourhood services, said: "The Environment Agency has agreed to install CCTV cameras in fly-tipping hotspot areas in an attempt to catch those responsible."

Richard McIlwain from the Environment Agency said: "We have met with the council to see if we can set up an anti-fly-tipping initiative."

Coun David Foster, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat and a Darwen councillor, said: "I can't help but notice what a mess many places are, particularly the back streets."

Coun Ashley Whalley, who represents Higher Croft, added: "We have household recycling centres when people can take things but, for some reason, they would rather just dump them on places like Brokenstones Road instead."