COMPLAINTS about dog fouling are around 70 per cent less than five years ago in Blaenau Gwent, according to a council report.

For the last five years, Blaenau Gwent has been identified as having some of the "dirtiest streets" in Wales, according to surveys by Keep Wales Tidy.

But a new report for the council's environment committee show the number of litter and dog fouling complaints are the lowest since 2011.

The council report says the decrease in complaints about dog fouling can be attributed to the deterrent of regular patrols of hot spot areas.

Figures also show an overall drop of 46 per cent in complaints about street cleanliness between 2011/12 and 2016/17. The council has been working in partnership with Kingdom Security Ltd since 2011 to tackle street cleanliness.

The report states Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council is one of the top performing local authorities in Wales for Litter and Dog Control Order Enforcement.

It states: "Analysis of service requests about street cleanliness show that the number of complaints about litter and dog fouling are the lowest received since 2011.

"While there has been a slight increase in dog fouling complaints for 2016/17, litter complaints continue to fall in a trend that has been continuing since 2013.

"The table above shows that there has been an overall drop of 46 per cent in complaints about street cleanliness between 2011/12 and 2016/17.

"This appears to indicate that the use of full time Enforcement Officers targeting hot-spot areas is achieving a reduction in complaints about street cleanliness, particularly dog fouling."

It adds: "For the last five years Blaenau Gwent has been identified as having some of the dirtiest streets in Wales by annual surveys carried out by Keep Wales Tidy.

"Street cleanliness is consistently considered to be a priority for both councillors and constituents."

Enforcement officers continue to patrol areas of land which have been transferred to the Aneurin BevanLeisure Trust, such as Bryn Bach Parc and it is understood that these patrols continue to prevent problems such as dog on dog attacks in these areas, the report states.