Ealing's streets will be cleaner following the council's decision to call in extra hands because of the current company's appalling track record.

Cardinal, who has the cleaning contract, narrowly missed being fired after it failed to meet its target of clearing the borough of weeds by the end of the month.

However, a second company, Cleantech Ltd, has been hired to clean the borough's worst areas and assist with cleaning the streets ,, at Cardinal's expense.

At the Ealing Area committee on Thursday, Cardinal was berated for failing to improve Ealing's appearance in time for this month's jazz festival, expected to attract thousands of visitors from across the United Kingdom.