A social media campaign to clean up the streets of Merton has succeeded in getting the attention of Mitcham and Morden MP Siobhain McDonagh.

The hashtag ‘Mucky Merton’ has been used on Twitter to draw attention to problems with littering, uncollected bins and fly tipping across the borough, and had already received support from Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond, as well as several councillors.

And, after weeks of tweeting to her, Ms McDonagh has now agreed to meet with the campaign leaders to discuss the problems.

Dan Goode, who runs the Twitter account Merton Matters that is behind the campaign and lives in Wandle Road, Morden, thinks that the council needs to start getting advice from other boroughs on how best to tackle litter. 

He said: "There’s a sort of endemic littering culture in Merton. It’s getting worse. Litter isn’t being collected, bins are overflowing.

"The reason the campaign started on Twitter was because the council was saying that there wasn’t a problem. The only way we got the council to take note of the problem was to show publicly that there was an issue.

"There was a bench on Morden Hall Road that wasn’t cleaned for four weeks. I left it to see how long it would last. It was finally cleaned because residents complained.

"There needs to be a proper breakdown and study of what the council is doing, because whatever they are doing isn’t working."

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Merton spends more than £5 million a year on street sweeping and litter removal, and 4,600 tonnes of litter was cleaned from the streets in 2014. 

Since January 1 2015, Merton has issued 8,204 fines for littering. 

Ms McDonagh is hoping that introducing wheelie bins in the borough will help to tackle litter.

She said: "I think there’s a problem with litter. The black sack collection is outdated. People put them on the wrong days and they get split and torn up by foxes.

"I understand there are some people who need to be convinced. It’s a big thing now for the council to make better."

However, campaign supporter Andrew Boyce, of Morden Road, Wimbledon, said: "Wheelie bins are not the solution. The council isn’t proactive enough.

"I think there’s an increasing expectation that residents will bear the burden in terms of cleaning up the streets. It’s not for us to pick up the councils mess on a regular basis.

"If you pay council tax, you expect your streets will be cleaned."

Oonagh Moulton, leader of the Merton Conservatives, said: "It’s a problem right across the borough. It is an area residents do feel really upset about, whether you live in Ravensbury or my ward, Wimbledon Park.

"It is something we feel is being neglected by the administration.

"It is an area where more can be done."

Merton’s cabinet member for environmental cleanliness and parking, Councillor Judy Saunders said: “Litter doesn't grow on trees. It is dropped by people. The council agrees this is totally unacceptable and has a zero tolerance approach to people who drop litter on our streets. 

"Obviously, we can't catch everyone in the act, but our enforcement officers have issued over 8,000 fines already this year, most to people from outside Merton.

“Clearing up litter dropped by a small minority of people who don't care about our community costs the council more than £5million every year, money that could be spent on vital services if these people disposed of their rubbish responsibly.”

The council also said that the situation had improved since 2010, when official government figures found that Merton had the dirtiest streets in the country, because of the council's zero tolerance approach and work with residents. 

Do you think Merton is too messy? Email pippa.allen@london.newsquest.co.uk or leave a comment below.