THE streets of Scarborough might not be paved with gold, but they are among the cleanest in the country.

A study has shown that the streets of the North Yorkshire seaside resort are much cleaner than the national average.

The survey carried out by Government watchdog the Audit Commission for trade union GMB showed that Scarborough had the cleanest streets in Yorkshire and Humberside.

Of the 20 councils in the region, Ryedale and Harrogate also finished in the top five, while York and Hambleton, and East Riding all finished just inside the top ten.

Councillor Andrew Backhouse, Scarborough Borough Council’s cabinet member for technical services and environment, said the results reflected the hard work of council staff.

Coun Backhouse said: “The results are testament to our dedicated workforce within street cleansing, and a clear indication of the council’s continued drive to be the leading seaside destination.”

The study monitored levels of litter and “detritus”, or dust, mud, soil and glass, on the land and highways across all 345 councils in England.

In total, only three per cent of land or highways in Scarborough was assessed as having unacceptable levels of detritus, and only one per cent of land had less than acceptable levels of litter.

Levels of litter in York were much higher in comparison, but levels of detritus still better than national levels.

John Goodyear, assistant director of communities & neighbourhoods at City of York Council, said standards had improved in the city.

He said: “The introduction of the use of barrows two years ago saw a marked improvement in standards and we have continued to build on this success through additional cleaning of terraced streets.

“We are pleased to be marked as better than the national average, but we will not become complacent and continue to look for further opportunities to improve the look of York’s streets still further.”