LEOMINSTER has a new weapon to help keep its streets clean.

The 'Glutton' machine, affectionately known as 'Daisy' is the town council's new waste vacuum cleaner.

It is a mobile, easy to handle and self-propelled machine, able to collect all kinds of waste that can pass through a tube 12.5cm in diameter.

And it could not have come sooner for one local man who believes streets in India – where he visited on a recent holiday – were cleaner than in Leominster.

Emlyn Matthews, 71, said: "I walked up and down the High Street everyday last week and the roads haven't been cleaned. It is filthy and there is rubbish in the gutter and pavements.

"I have never seen a town like it. It's disgusting."

Mr Matthews lives in Dilwyn but said he goes into Leominster to pay bills for his neighbour several times a week. He claims the town is an "absolute disgrace", with litter and cigarette butts strewn across the streets.

"There is so much good about the town and we need to promote it," he added.

But the town council is positive things are set to improve after taking responsibility for street cleaning earlier this month.

It has employed two members of staff on a part-time basis to take out the Glutton machine four days a week.

Town clerk, Paul Russell, said: "People are starting to notice which is a really good thing. We are getting a lot of good feedback. At the moment the operators are talking to people explaining what we are doing.

"We are trying to improve the town centre. Having the ability to take positive action and be more proactive and also reactive to complaints is a huge step forward for us. "We are working with all the relevant organisations."

He added that Leominster is now getting clean four days a week and will no longer have to wait for Balfour Beatty, as under the former system with Herefordshire Council.