Organisers of York's first Bavarian Festival were today told to clean up their act after they left the city centre littered with rubbish when the event closed.

The warning came on the same day as the City of York Council launched its "spring clean" to reduce litter and combat environmental problems across the city.

The two-week Bavarian Festival ended on Sunday, but when the stalls were taken down on Monday planks of wood, metal fencing and rubbish were scattered across Parliament Street. One woman slipped and fell on a bag of flour which had burst and got mixed with the rain.

The festival of Bavarian culture, food and drink was the first of its kind in York, but the mess has angered council officials at a time when they are trying to clean up the city.

The acting city centre manager, Paul Barrett, said: "The closing day of the festival has been of concern to us, and should the festival return to York the organisers will need to make a better effort. This was their first visit to York.

"Clearly the heavy rain didn't help and they had to remove some of the perimeter fencing to make it possible to get some of the larger items of kit out.

"We will be having a good clean-up now that they have gone, and have already made the event organisers aware that we will require them to be tidier as they pack their equipment away if they visit York again in the future."

The council's "spring clean" will see a Street Environment Team carry out audits around the city, to tackle litter, graffiti and poor street-lighting.

This is the third year in which the scheme has been run, and the council is calling on York residents to notify them of any concerns. The findings will be reported to the council on a ward-by-ward basis, and £110,000 has been set aside to combat underlying problems such as anti-social behaviour.

The Street Environment Team will cover approximately 3,200 streets, lanes and open spaces during the audits. They are looking for community groups to get involved in local clean-ups in the summer, and are also inviting suggestions for community events to help improve the urban environment.

Anyone wishing to report a problem, suggest an event, or offer to help with clean-ups should phone the York Pride Action Line on 01904 551551.

Updated: 10:15 Wednesday, April 20, 2005