By David Carnduff

THE council must do more to keep East Renfrewshire’s streets clean or risk damaging the area’s reputation.

That’s the view of several Conservative politicians after a 2017 Accounts Commission report revealed the cost of street cleaning in the area’s towns and villages has risen 50.8 per cent – while the cleanliness score has declined 0.9 per cent.

Maurice Golden MSP, shadow Cabinet Secretary for Environment, said prices no longer reflect quality of services.

He said: “It affects tourism and with it the economy.

“This is a serious issue, and I hope East Renfrewshire Council (ERC) does all it can to address this problem.”

Mr Golden was joined by council candidates for Newton Mearns North and Neilston, Andrew Morrison and Charlie Gilbert, who said residents had complained of a general lack of cleanliness.

In response, an ERC spokesman said: “We once again performed extremely well in the Keep Scotland Beautiful assessment, which showed that 94.9 per cent of our streets met the required standard of cleanliness.

“In the separate Accounts Commission report outlining the amount of money spent on street cleaning, the way in which our figures are reported has changed.

“This figure now includes the costs associated with our graffiti squad and flytipping, as well as the street cleaning spend.

“It is actually the case that our street cleaning costs have remained constant, helping us to maintain the high standards set across East Renfrewshire.”