Opposition councillors say the borough will become a dirtier place to live following the announcement of cuts to services.

Harrow Borough Council’s Labour administration has announced it will cut the street cleaning budget by £172,000.

The cut will mean crews will clean the borough’s streets in a ‘zonal’ system, which will mean some roads will get cleaned more than others.

Under the previous Tory administration all streets were cleaned on a regular basis.

Leader of the Conservative group Councillor Susan Hall said: “Whenever Labour look to make cuts they always seem to go after services like street cleaning first, against the wishes of Harrow residents and despite knowing it will make Harrow dirtier.

“It’s also so disappointing after the extra investment the Conservatives put into street cleaning had started turning things around.

“Cllr Varsha Parmar assured me at cabinet that all residents affected by this cut will be written to, so it will be interesting to see if that happens or not.”

During the Conservatives period in charge of the authority last year, £500,000 was invested in street cleaning and park maintenance, including money for teams to blitz litter hotspots.

In February this year the Harrow Times reported that complaints to the council over street cleanliness had dropped by 27 per cent.

Cabinet member for environment Cllr Varsha Parmar said: “The proposal on zonal cleaning is something the council is going to take views on – at the moment it is a proposal for consultation.

“The important point is that we have teams who can go to specific areas whenever needed so we are not locked into a rigid pattern of street cleaning.

“Some spots will be cleaned more frequently and we are also proposing to introduce a new working pattern and improved coverage across key times of the operation.

“It is absolute nonsense to suggest there is any let up in our commitment to clean streets. While it is true we have to save money from the environmental budget – as we do across the whole of the council – we are confident this can be done without jeopardising the appearance of our streets.”