MORE must be done to stop people in Newport from dropping litter, a city councillor has said.

Speaking at a meeting of Newport City Council’s Streetscene, Regeneration and Safety Scrutiny Committee on Thursday, January 7, Labour member Cllr Miqdad Al-Nuiami said he often received complaints about the amount of litter in the city centre.

Cllr Al-Nuiami represents Stow Hill, which encompasses much of the city centre, and was speaking as the committee discussed the council’s draft budget for the 2016-17 financial year, which includes plans to save £250,000 by cutting ten full-time street cleaning jobs.

“We have a lot of complaints about this (street cleaning),” he said.

“In the High Street there’s a lot of building work going on but I do get a lot of complaints about the state of the street.

“It’s not helped by people throwing litter and the overflowing litter bins.”

He added: "We don’t seem to have an education programme for people,” he said. “They just throw litter

“I’ve seen them do it – they sit down and have their food and then they just throw the litter.”

Cllr Al-Nuiami – who also sits on the council’s planning committee – added he hoped the council could develop a scheme encouraging people to dispose of their litter properly, while also working with city centre businesses to tackle the problem.

“We get these planning applications for fast food places sometimes and we don’t put any requirements for dealing with the litter they generate,” he said.

If the plans go ahead they will also see rotas for street cleaners restructured so they work 9.25 hours a day, four days a week.

Council leader Cllr Bob Bright said the authority had currently found itself forced to make cuts for the fifth year in a row and needed to save almost £11 million in the coming financial year.

“Newport has seen a renaissance since the opening of Friars Walk and we will continue to try and improve the city for its residents during these difficult financial times," he said. "There is still work to be done in the city centre, and in December’s cabinet meeting I asked officers to look at the city centre experience for users."

A public consultation into the budget is open until Friday, January 22, with a final decision to be made next month.

To view the full budget plans or take part in the consultation visit newport.gov.uk.