The 'stunt' last weekend was designed to grab the attention of residents as Ashfield District Council launched their multi-million pound scheme to make the town 'cleaner, safer and greener'.

A bin lorry emptied dozens of bags of rubbish to highlight problems caused by litter in the town centre.

Edd de Coverly, head of neighbourhood services at Ashfield, said: "The black bags represented the amount of rubbish which is collected in Ashfield every single morning. If you add it all up, that's 2.1 million black bags full of rubbish each year.

"We hope that by showing the public what this amount of litter looks like will highlight the importance of putting their rubbish in a bin."

Hundreds of residents turned up to the roadshow event, which started last Saturday. It stretched into Sunday at Titchfield Park in a bid to demonstrate the quality of some of the district's open spaces.

As part of the investment in frontline services, a new neighbourhood team charged with cleaning up streets and parks has been launched with the remit of tackling 'environmental criminals'.

This includes those guilty of everything from dropping litter to allowing their dogs to foul.

A freephone hotline number – 0800 1838484 – has also been launched to allow the public to report environmental concerns.

Mr de Coverly added: "We are delighted to be launching an improved service but we need the public to do their bit, both in telling us where the problems are and by also acting responsibly themselves."

The council's lead member for streets, parks and roads, Coun Robert Sears-Piccavey (Lib Dem) said the council were becoming more accessible to communities.

"We want people to tell us what the problems are in their neighbourhoods – whether its litter, graffiti or potholes," he said.

"The council have put £1 million into frontline services and we are determined to improve the quality of the environment by focusing on what matters to the public and by co-ordinating services more effectively."