Croydon Council is revolutionising the way it clean up the streets.

On Monday council contractors doing their daily rounds began using the eight new vacuums to remove litter from streets and pavements in Croydon town centre, Broad Green and Norbury. A spokesperson for Croydon Council said: "The vacuums are more efficient and versatile than brushes and barrows, and even collect waste stuck between kerbs and parked cars."

The council will roll out another 17 later this year, with New Addington in early autumn and Coulsdon, Thornton Heath and Waddon the next likely areas.

The new vacuums are part of a £1.3m council investment in better street cleaning equipment, waste collection vehicles and solar-powered bins. This includes new sweepers with a large hopper so contractors can clean roads for longer without needing to empty them at the depot.

Councillor Stuart Collins said: “Keeping our borough cleaner and tidier is one of the council’s priorities, and these street vacuums are yet another example of our significant investment in making this happen. I look forward to them making a positive difference to our residents’ local areas.”

Council is also investing in three narrow 3.5-tonne cage tippers to clean hard-to-reach areas such as housing sites, narrow alleyways and fly-tips, as well as two new refuse collection vehicles to collect orange waste bags.