It doesn't take much to spoil the look of a whole neighbourhood. Even if you have got a row of well kept front gardens it only takes 1 or 2 overgrown hedges, rusting cars or rotting mattresses to make the whole street look like a tip.

The vast majority of residents are proud of their borough and take good care of their gardens. But unfortunately there are areas which have been blighted by badly overgrown or rubbish-strewn front yards. Often the problem is down to private landlords who fail to maintain their properties and dump rubbish like old furniture outside.

We know that people are worried about the problem because they have been telling us about it. The council has listened to those concerns and that's why we have set up Eyesore Gardens.

In its first month the Eyesore Gardens team cleared 8 tons of rubbish from front gardens. They visited 850 houses and issued 60 legal notices. This has made a real improvement to the look and feel of the borough, but there is more to be done. You can help by reporting a problem online or calling the team on 020 8215 3010.

Councillor Liam Smith
Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council