Carnival clean-up removes 300 tonnes of waste

More than 300 tonnes of waste have been cleared from the streets of North Kensington after the Notting Hill Carnival in an overnight operation involving about 200 staff and 30 waste vehicles.

More than two million people joined the carnival's 60th anniversary celebrations, and as the festivities drew to a close a clean-up began to get the area back to normal, Kensington and Chelsea Council said.

The council said the overnight shifts were designed to reopen roads and pavements and allow residents to get back to normal.

About 30% of the waste collected is expected to be recycled.

Street washing teams then moved in to clean affected roads and pavements. That work will continue across the carnival area throughout the week and is due to finish on Saturday.

Josh Rendall, the council's lead member for transport, parks and clean streets, said carnival was "an incredible weekend" but it was important people living on the route had their streets handed back quickly and in good condition.

"While the borough slept, hundreds of our staff were working through the night clearing hundreds of tonnes of waste, washing the streets and getting North Kensington moving again," he said.

"It is a huge operation and I want to thank every member of the team who stayed up late to get the job done."

Gary O'Hagan, regional manager at the council's waste contractor Suez, said cleaning the streets of Notting Hill twice in 48 hours had taken months of planning.

A graffiti removal programme will see crews working through affected streets over the coming month.

The council is also offering a free cleaning service for residential basements and frontages affected by the event.

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