Darlington'S litter campaign - which has seen more than 600 on-the-spot fines handed out - received national acclaim this week as it was featured on television.

The town centre was described as "virtually spotless" by TV presenter Fiona Bruce in a national fly-on-the-wall BBC Real Story programme which focused on how councils tackle the problem of littering.

A five-man BBC crew spent six days in and around Darlington filming the council's wardens and the environmental response team going about their daily duties in the fight against litter.

The crew also filmed wardens issuing £50 on-the-spot fines to litter-louts, and the programme featured the "name and shame" campaign of litter offenders each month.

Darlington was chosen to take part in the programme after the BBC read about the anti-litter drive in The Northern Echo, which has supported the campaign since it was launched in November last year.

Chris McEwan, the council's cabinet member for community protection, said: "It is a real credit to the people of Darlington and the council's environmental response team and wardens that the BBC chose to film in our town - a town which is tackling the problem of litter head-on."