The council’s leaf clearance teams have hit the streets across Cheshire West and Chester to clear up leaves on pavements and roads.

The council says this not only helps to keep the area clean and tidy but also stops the pavements and roads becoming slippery and dangerous.

Throughout November and December the council says it deploys teams dedicated to clearing leaves using both mechanised and manual sweepers.

Just over 600 tonnes of leaves are normally swept up from roads and footpaths across the whole of West Cheshire during these months and the compacted leaves could fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

The timing and rate of leaf fall varies from one year to the next due to variations in weather such as rainfall levels, wind and frost.

Priority is given to busy footpaths, road and footpaths with many mature trees, areas prone to flooding and areas where leaves have broken down into detritus.

Ellesmere Port Whitby ward councillor Karen Shore (Lab), the council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “The amount of time taken to complete one full cycle of our leaf clearance schedule is unpredictable because the rate of leaf fall varies through the season.

“It is not possible to provide firm dates for when each street will be cleared. We aim to clear everywhere twice but it is weather dependent.

“Please be patient if there has been a rapid fall of leaves during windy weather as our teams are often unable to respond immediately.

“They are working hard to keep our streets looking neat and tidy and to stop leaves becoming a slippery hazard.”

If leaves are an issue in their area people can report it to www.westcheshireyourstreets.co.uk.