South Bank Clean Team starts work

Their focus will be on those jobs that can often be ignored but which make a huge difference to the overall experience of the area. The service is a joint initiative between South Bank Partnership and Lambeth Council, funded by Section 106 contributions from the Merlin Entertainments London Eye and managed by South Bank Employers' Group.

The South Bank Clean Team will operate on both publicly and privately-owned land in the area. One of their first jobs was to remove rubbish and weeds around Victory Arch at Waterloo Station.

Typical tasks for the team will include clearing up cigarette butts in doorways, tidying up landscape borders and weeding, jet-washing locations that suffer from public urination and removing needles from public areas.

The South Bank Clean Team will also polish the metal bins and lampposts, maintaining public art such as the glass wall installation on Sutton Walk as well looking after the new Legible London signage which is currently being installed.

Members of the team will also act as ambassadors for the area and will assist with visitor enquiries, such as providing directions and maps.

"One of the objectives of the South Bank Partnership is to secure recognition for the fact that our central London location and high levels of footfall demand higher levels of service and investment," says Kate Hoey MP, joint chair of the South Bank Partnership.

"The South Bank Clean Team will deliver a greatly enhanced cleansing service and make the everyday experience of South Bank and Waterloo even better."

The four-strong South Bank Clean Team joins the established Graffiti Removal Service which removes fly posting and cleans graffiti.

Digital radio network boosts South Bank security

SBEG employs a private patrol service and co-ordinates security activities amongst many businesses, using radio handsets that enable communication on any reported security concerns to be shared quickly.

"Arqiva's radio scheme is linked in to all 24-hour security control rooms in the SBEG area and now acts as the thread that binds the different safety schemes and teams together," says security co-ordinator David Clark.

"We are now better able to respond to situations in real-time – which we couldn't do before; we've been able to reunite children with their parents, made a number of arrests, prevented anti-social behaviour and continually monitor for potential terrorist activity."