The Portsmouth News is celebrating the first anniversary and success of its Stop The Grot campaign.

Since March 2001, the paper has been committed to getting rid of litter, cleaning up graffiti and tidying up mess and has cleared more than 70 blackspots.

The campaign is all part of The News’s We Can Do It drive, aimed to boost community spirit and encourage pride within local areas.

From the outset it received amazing support from News readers and co-operation from officials and landowners. The News Grotline was inundated with calls in favour of the cause.

People rang in to complain about mess in public and privately owned land. Local authorities were informed of the problems in public areas and owners of the private land were urged to clean it up themselves.

Members of the public, along with members of the News team have contributed their own efforts to the cause by chipping in whenever possible.

Now public figures have spoken out urging readers to continue their support. Leo Madden, leader of Portsmouth City Council said; “It has encouraged people to tackle the grotty areas in their community.”

Mike Gilson, editor of The News, said; “We knew from the start of this campaign that we were addressing an issue close to the hearts of our readers. We’ve had a lot of good success, but we’re determined to keep up the good work.”

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