THE last thing people enjoying a night out think about is pollution. Generally, revellers are more concerned with the blisters on their feet than putting their kebab box in the nearest litter bin.

And for most – when they roll into the city centre in search of a fry-up the next day – any sign of that dropped cigarette end has mysteriously vanished, like it had never been thrown on the ground in the first place.

But what people don’t realise is the army of people it takes to scrub the pavements clean, so the morning shoppers don’t have to step around smashed bottles and chip wrappers or marvel at abandoned flip-flops.

It is all done in the “in-between time” – from 5am to 9am – when the bin bags are collected and the roads scrubbed.

Barely anyone is around to witness the effort which goes into it – maybe a few last stragglers from the clubs who have been thrown out into Angel Place and the kebab shop staff, who are tidying up after a busy evening.

And, for one morning, I also got to see the effort as I followed the street cleansing team as part of your Worcester News’ Take Pride in Worcester campaign.

The job of cleaning up the rubbish in the city centre on this particular morning fell to Dale Addis, who was remarkably awake considering the hour as we whizzed down the road in his sweeper.

The 43-year-old said: “I do enjoy doing this. It is a bit of a break from working on the bins.” Mr Addis had only four hours to sweep the whole of the city centre – and make it across to St John’s. It left little time for hanging around.

On Sunday mornings, he has another man helping him by sweeping the rubbish on the pavements onto the road, which makes it easier.

However, on Saturdays he has to jump in and out to make sure he gets every last piece.

And there was litter everywhere – bottles left on walls, takeaway boxes in doorways and even a nappy in the Cattle Market car park.

As he jumped in and out of the sweeper at the bottom of Broad Street, Mr Addis said: “If you go out and enjoy yourself, you do not want to think about causing pollution to the environment. It wouldn’t be so bad if there were no bins around – but there are three here.”

The source of an awful lot of what has been dumped on the ground can be easily identified, thanks to big American brands needing to put their names across absolutely everything.

It begs the question why the biggest offenders – and they must know who they are – are not doing more to tackle the problems.

Mr Addis agreed, but he had bigger bugbears – mainly the flyers which seemed to carpet the floor and which the sweepers struggled to pick up.

He said: “They are a pain in the neck, they are. Especially if they get wet.”

There was the problem of the seagulls, which attacked the bin bags put out by the chippies in readiness for the collection at 6am. And then there was the slightly inebriated group which stood, quite resolutely, blocking the path of Mr Addis’s on-coming sweeper, waiting until the last minute to move out of the way.

As the sweeper made its way along the curb next to Lloyds bar, he pointed to the pile of receipts on the floor. “Everything you need to set up a direct debit,” he joked.

By the time I left at 7am, Mr Addis had only made it as far as the Cornmarket car park – he still had to work his way down New Street, Friar Street and up onto the High Street, never mind everywhere in between, and then onto St John’s.

As he headed off to tackle the rest of the city, Mr Addis said: “It is slower when it’s bitty, like today, but I take pride in my work. I want to make sure I do a good job.”

To report a grot spot to the council call 01905 722 101. The authority promises to have it cleaned up within two working days.
• Click here for more on the Take Pride campaign and to upload your own grot spot pictures.