MORE trouble-shooters are being set to work in east Cleveland with a brief to clean up the streets.

Community wardens Peter Pears and Steve Sanderson will, from this week, patrol the streets of Normanby, near Redcar, imposing on-the-spot fines for litter dropping and dog fouling, while keeping a watch out for signs of vandalism and anti-social behaviour.

The scheme goes borough-wide in April, with wardens working in another seven or eight areas.

The idea of warden foot patrols was started at Eston, as a pilot scheme, and extended to Brotton. It will be Teesville's turn next month.

Councillor Sylvia Szintai, lead member for the environment with Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: "We're bringing the council to the people, and removing an awful lot of bureaucracy in the process.

"The wardens are in a position to help people with problems or, if they can't answer the question on the spot, they're just a telephone call away from the right response.''

Mike Hardman, the council's assistant director for direct works, said: "So far, the response from the community has been excellent, with a lot of positive feedback from both the public and wardens, who are thoroughly enjoying the work.

"Given the impetus we've had, we really don't think there will be a problem when the scheme becomes borough-wide in April."

The next phase is to link the wardens with small works teams in each area, ready to carry out instant repairs