Quarter of a million to clean up Fife's 'problem areas'.

Neglected parts of Fife are set to benefit from £250,000 of funding to encourage people to stop people fly tipping, littering and scrawling graffiti on public property.

Ten permanent jobs have been created to deep clean problem areas, with officials warning that run down spaces attract anti-social behaviour.

The teams will operate over the next 6 months, tackling one ward in each of the seven council areas.

Fife Council Co-leader David Alexander thinks this approach will provide a great boost for local communities. He said: "The state of the local environment - litter, graffiti, weeds - has a huge impact on the well-being and mood of the whole community.

"When an area starts to look run down and dirty this can lead to more littering or fly tipping and can encourage anti-social behaviour as an area appears more and more neglected.

"Sending in a team dedicated to cleaning the area from top to bottom can give the local community a huge boost.

"I'd hope that once our squad has been in, it would give those in the neighbourhood a greater sense of pride and encourage the public to keep the area clean.

"We want to work closer with local groups and organisations to see how we can share the responsibility for keeping our environments in a condition that we can all take a pride in and enjoy."

He added: "We know that environment has a huge impact on the quality of life in our communities and as part of our plans for a fairer Fife we want to make sure that every area is given it's chance to shine.

"Creating a more inviting environment and cleaning up problem areas will give our communities a much needed boost, and support the efforts of local residents themselves in helping to keep the area tidy and clean".