FUMING Eastleigh council chiefs have lashed out after being labelled Britain's dirtiest borough.

A national newspaper placed Eastleigh top of a shame list for the amount of cash spent on street cleaning.

It claimed the Hampshire authority spent just 21p per head of population on keeping streets spic and span - a whacking 70p lower than the next "worst" town.

But Eastleigh council leader Keith House launched a stinging rebuke, claiming that the newspaper had got its figures wrong.

And council officials said Eastleigh actually spent £3.03 per head on street sweeping last year - and the 21p was a separate and additional figure.

"The figure that has been quoted relates to an additional litter clearing and street sweeping service that is provided by the council in response to requests from members of the public for dealing with litter hotspots."

Chief executive Chris Tapp said: "The figures quoted are wrong. Eastleigh spent £334,000 in 1997/98 on street sweeping.

"To get best value the council wants to provide a good service as cheaply as possible. We believe we have got the balance right."

Mr House said the newspaper should have checked its facts.

"Not only does Eastleigh provide as good a quality street cleaning service as other Hampshire councils but we have achieved this at a lower cost than many areas.

"But, what's more, we also have the country's best record on recycling with over 40 per cent of waste recycled.

"Eastleigh will continue to provide value for money services and to do so without breaking the bank."

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.