BY MEGAN CONROY

LITTER remains a problem for the townspeople of Strabane.

A recent survey has highlighted the fact that the general public in the North are unhappy about the mess of the streets. Half of the 1700 people, surveyed by TIDY Northern Ireland, believe that the streets of the North are dirty.

Fast food outlets are getting most of the blame, but the worrying factor is that 30 per cent of the population believe it's acceptable to drop litter in certain situations.

11 per cent of people drop cigarette butts without a second thought, despite the fact that they are regarded as the third worst kind of litter behind dog excretement and chewing gum.

In Strabane yesterday, the people that the Chronicle spoke to are mostly fed up with litter louts dropping cigarette butts and chewing gum.

Joe Breslin said, "Chewing gum on the street is disgusting, it is the worst type of litter. Strabane is a dirty town, I feel not enough attention is paid to cleaning the streets.

Cal Robinson agrees. "This town is really untidy, I think more cleaners are needed, to help keep the town clean and tidy, cigarette butts are a real problem.

Amy Callaghan added, "Strabane is undoubedly not the cleanest town, it's covered in cigarette butts, its an eyesore."

And Megan Mc Menamin felt it wasn't the worst, when compared with other towns.

"I suppose Strabane is tidy enough compared to other towns, but the amount of chewing gum on the streets is a disgrace. It really needs to cleaned up.