CUTS to the cleaning of town centres in Blaenau Gwent - in the face of a predicted £260,000 overspend of the council's environment budget - have raised concerns among councillors.

And it has been suggested that the council should bring the such cleaning 'in house' to avoid wasting money, amid fears that the council would no longer be able to keep Blaenau Gwent clean.

A budget monitoring action plan presented to Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s joint scrutiny committee included plans to end spending on deep cleaning town  centres and to reduce weed spraying.

The actions, to help balance the council’s books, have resulted in a reduction in the amount of weed spraying and the number of town centre deep cleans.

Cllr Phil Edwards said: “I don’t understand the reduction of weed spraying and the cleaning of the town centre.

“We are wasting a lot of money, have we looked at the possibility of bringing it in house?”

The council’s corporate director for environment and regeneration, Richard Crook, said that cleansing the borough remained a priority.

He said: “Some of the actions are short term as we try to live within our budget for the year.”

Cllr Stephen Thomas said : “We are now looking at a reduction in town centre deep cleansing.

“We are not going to be able to keep the borough clean.

“Despite money, if someone keeps a priority, they make sure it’s funded, it’s not a difficult task.

And he questioned whether the council should have gone ahead with developing a new waste recycling centre, meaning there was less money for other services such as street cleaning.

“This shows the nature of going for the household waste recycling centre (HWRC), and do we need it? What I am concerned about is the change of policy.”

Cllr Amanda Moore said that nothing in the report indicates a change in priority.

Cllr Thomas questioned the speed at which the Welsh Government had agreed to fund the new £2.8 million HWRC at Roseheyworth Business Park.

This will create a second waste recycling centre in the borough, but Cllr Thomas questioned whether the Welsh Government were aware that the council was planning to open one of them for three days a week and the other for four days.

He added: “It now leaves the council with massive revenue to find.”