A MAJOR clampdown on messy gardens began today.

Residents will be given 48 hours to clear rubbish in their front gardens or the council carry out the work and charge the owner.

The minimum fee is expected to be £30.

Since April 1 the council has received 193 complaints from residents and more than 500 gardens have been identified as needing a clean-up.

The authority started the campaign by clearing out a garden in Verulam Avenue, Walthamstow.

The owner was given 28-days to act, but after failing to do so the council moved in to do the job.

Waltham Forest Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Clyde Loakes, said: “There is absolutely no excuse for treating your front garden like a dumping ground and our residents are sick to death of living near homes which have been neglected.

“Residents have told us they are fed up of people running our streets down and they want us to do something about it.

“If people can’t be bothered to help us keep our borough clean, we’re going to step in and force them to clean up their act.

“We want to make this one of the tidiest borough’s in London and this scheme will go a long way towards helping us to achieve that goal.”

The new scheme marks the relaunch of the council's Wiping out Enviro-crime campaign which will focus on tackling problems such as fly-tipping and littering.

Click here to follow the Waltham Forest Guardian on Twitter