BLAENAU Gwent AM Alun Davies, the Minister for Natural Resources has announced £943,833 to help keep communities across Wales tidy, including £54,000 to projects in Gwent.

The funding will go towards 75 projects as part of the Tidy Towns initiative, to help communities improve their local area and tackle problems such as fly tipping, vandalism, dog fouling and littering.

The funding will help transform wasteland across Wales into communal areas such as nature reserves, community gardens and allotments.

Projects include £30,000 to improve walking routes in Blaenau Gwent and to develop a wildlife explorer trail in the county for local school children, while a further £24,000 will go towards a clean-up exercise and defence work to prevent illegal off-road driving, fly-tipping, litter and criminal damage in Twmbarlwm, Caerphilly

Mr Davies said: “It is really important that we all feel proud of where we live. However, problems such as fly tipping, dog fouling and littering can have a negative impact on the lives of residents and effect the way we feel about our local communities.”