A two-man team are taking on fly-tippers in their borough in a bid to keep their neighbourhoods free from rubbish.

The Harrow Council ‘Night Riders’ work throughout the evening and the early hours of the morning, cleaning up any unwanted waste that has been carelessly tossed away.

It is their mission to help tackle incidents of fly-tipping reported to the council, which numbers 80 to 100 each day.

They take anything from fridges to furniture to unwanted clothes to dumped building materials and their efforts have been championed by councillors and residents alike.

Cllr Graham Henson, responsible for the environment at Harrow Council, said: “Residents are sick of the disgusting fly-tipping happening in our borough we are doing something about this to make Harrow clean.

“We’re not just clearing fly-tips during the day, but we have a special team out throughout the night and into the early hours.

“It’s our night riders who make sure streets are looking spotless before residents wake up in the morning.

“It’s great to see how much [people] appreciate this service – they come out of their homes or shout out their windows to say thanks to the crew in the middle of night.

“It’s not an easy job, but our night riders do it with dedication and our residents love to see their streets clean and filth free.”

The pair aim to clean around 40 to 50 reports each night and also deal with any incidents which might not be on their list.

The council noted how, while the majority of people dispose of their waste fairly and responsibly, there are a few people out there blighting the borough.

It explained that these acts of selfishness hit the taxpayers’ pockets – in the past year it cost £440,000 to clean up fly-tips.