Town hall bosses are getting tough on "scruffy Preston".

Last month, the Evening Post reported how messy takeaways, bookies and even banks will be told to clean up rubbish dropped by punters within 100 yards of their shops.

Business bosses described the move as "ridiculous", but council leader Ken Hudson today said the war on litter would be their "top priority" for the next 12 months.

He warned owners they will find themselves before magistrates if they ignore the new powers and, as part of the purge on litter, he also promised a number of new bins will be appearing on streets across the city.

He said: "We are going to make sure we use what money we have wisely for the benefit of the environment in Preston city centre. We have got to tackle litter and graffiti.

We will provide more litter bins so no one has any excuses and we are going to rigidly enforce the legislation with the takeaways."

In March, readers' pictures of Preston's scruffiest streets showed how litterbugs and fly-tippers are still shaming the city centre.

Church Street, the market area, Fishergate, Broomfield Mill Street, off North Road in the University area, and New Hall Lane are all popular dumping grounds.

In addition, the Evening Post revealed last year the city's rat population had risen to a record high over the past few years – mainly because of dropped rubbish.

Over the past 12 months, 69 people were fined up to £100 or prosecuted for dumping waste, dropping litter, pasting fly-posters and leaving extra bags out with their wheelie bin.

But only 36 of the cases were won or had the fine paid.

In addition, Preston Council handed out another 234 formal warnings and 745 informal warning letters and notices.

Coun Hudson also said the city had a graffiti problem, with vandals spraying buildings and walls faster than the council could clean it up.

Thousands more may have to be spent on new equipment to tackle the menace, he said.