WATFORD COUNCIL has pledged to make the town a cleaner place, but for one woman the administration should concentrate its efforts a little closer to home.

During a debate at the town hall on street cleaning, she suffered an asthma attack because of the thick dust in the public gallery.

Her coughing became so bad that she had to leave the council chamber and take an antihistamine tablet.

The woman, who declined to be named, said: "I had been sitting there for a long time listening to the debate.

"I was tired and I put my head in my hands and leaned forward towards the ledge.

"But I then just started coughing, I couldn't stop and I couldn't get my breath.

"Other people there checked the ledges with their fingers and they found lots of dust on them."

The woman, who works in St Albans Road, added: "The council should get its cleaners to clean the public gallery otherwise they can't expect people to come and listen to the debate."

A council spokeswoman said: "The public gallery, along with the rest of the town hall complex, is cleaned regularly by a group of cleaners.

"As we all know, dust is not the only catalyst for an asthma attack, it can be brought on by other factors.

"We trust the lady's feeling better."