A major road has undergone a two year transformation project to help stamp out flytipping.

Cassio Road, a key access street in Watford, has been given a new lease of life thanks to Watford Borough Council’s scheme.

It had three aims: make the street look better, improve the health and wellbeing of residents and bring the community together.

So far, there has been a 75 per cent reduction in flytipping and a 60 per cent increase in sign up to OWL Neighbourhood Watch.

To help achieve the aim of making the street look better, artwork was put on a service box to dress it up, along with a new sign to encourage residents to stop illegal dumping of their household waste on the street.

Three new litter bins were also installed on the road, covered in a design by local schoolchildren, to encourage residents to dispose of their litter correctly.

Working in partnership with homeowners improvements were made to enhance their safety within the home, by looking at issues such as fire safety.

Front garden boundaries were reinstated with fences and bollards, giving residents a sense of ownership and meaning pedestrians can now walk along Cassio Road safely without cars overhanging from front gardens.

Empty residential and commercial premises were brought back into use, including the GP surgery which has been transformed into a new-look children’s nursery.

Partnership work with local charities MIND and New Hope also provided planters to brighten up the area.

Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor, said: “I’m very pleased that this hugely successful project has been so well received by residents of Cassio Road, local businesses and the surrounding area too.

"To see these improvements first hand and the hard work our own staff and partners have put in really brings home what an accomplishment the project is.

"I hope the residents here continue to be proud of their area.”

To celebrate the end of the project a street party was held on Sunday 6 May, where 250 West Watford residents were joined by Mayor Taylor.

There was a real sense of ‘loving your community’ on the day – one of the final themes of the project, with neighbours being encouraged to get to know each other.

Feedback from residents showed that they were happy with how the street and their property in particular looked. The transformation also made them more proud to live in Cassio Road.

Watch a series of short films to see the difference the Cassio Road project has made at watford.gov.uk/cassioroad.