A COMMUNITY is launching a competition to find the greenest street in the area.

Over a three-month period, the recycling rates of each street in the Stoneyholme area of Burnley will be closely monitored.

And the winning residents will hold a street party to celebrate.

Crews at Burnley Fire Station currently face repeated call outs to deal with fires in the piles of rubbish left in the street.

So when they were approached by the Bangladeshi Welfare Association for help, they hit upon the novel scheme.

Neil Ashworth, watch manager at Burnley Fire Station, urged residents of other areas to follow suit.

He said: “We want people in other communities to ask why we’re not doing the same there. If people get together and approach us we would like to extend it. This is an example of the Big Society in action.”

A one-day blitz of the area, involving fire crews, volunteers, and the council’s Streetscene team, will take place on Thursday February 24. Over the following three months, each street will adopt a champion to drive their bid.

Veolia, the council’s waste contractor, will measure the percentage of recyclables being thrown away. The greenest street after the three months will throw a party, with local restaurants and takeaways already lined up to provide the food.

During the competition, the fire crews will use the opportunity to carry out safety checks in the 400 homes taking part.

Mr Ashworth added: “For us, the fire safety checks are vitally important, as this is classed as a high-risk area for home fires.

“It is also a nuisance going to rubbish fires - if the rubbish isn’t there, nobody can burn it.”