A regional daily has called for a “clean start” for its patch after complaints about dirty, littered city centre streets.

The Edinburgh Evening News has launched the plea after Edinburgh real estate developer Chris Stewart called for a dedicated official to be appointed to look after the city centre.

Mr Stewart claimed in an exclusive piece for the EEN that standards have been “allowed to slip” and called for council chiefs to take urgent action to tackle problems with rubbish collection, graffiti and ‘endless’ disrepair of pavements.

It comes after the newspaper revealed in July that Edinburgh’s streets are dirtier and more littered than they were four years ago, as figures showed standards of cleanliness plummeted across all of Edinburgh’s localities.

The campaign provided a splash for the newspaper on Monday, pictured above.

Mr Stewart told the EEN: “Edinburgh 10 years ago looked far better than it does now. Standards have been allowed to slip and no one at the Council is championing the city centre.

“It is about getting the basics right, but it is also about taking a coordinated approach to maintaining the integrity of Edinburgh’s historic environment.”

He added: “Having paid our share of business rates, we have also helped with street cleaning due to gaps in Council provision.

2We are more than willing to pay our part, but the council must fulfil its duties too.