WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH
WHAT a difference a day makes.
Photographs show the shocking state of one of Cardiff’s busiest streets in the immediate aftermath of Monday night’s World Cup qualifier in the city.
St Mary Street was awash with food wrappers, beer cans and bottles after the crunch match between Wales and Ireland at Cardiff City Stadium.
But while it was Ireland that cleaned up on the football pitch, with a 1-0 win ending Wales’ World Cup hopes, it was street cleaners who were left to sort out the mess in the heart of the capital.
Less than 12 hours after thousands of fans had gathered in the city centre ahead of the clash, teams from Cardiff council worked through the night to transform the street into a presentable state by daybreak.
And the dramatic turnaround between the rubbish-strewn earned plenty of praise from readers and officials alike.
South Wales Police tweeted: “Well done Cardiff City Council cleaning up during the match. Top job!”
And writing on our website, WalesOnline, reader 2u2me said: “Every can, every chip wrapper is cash for the economy. Brilliant job cleaning up, round of applause to the street cleaners.”
The litter-strewn scenes echoed similar images captured after other major sporting events in the city, such as the litter-strewn civic centre after Wales’ 2005 Grand Slam-winning party.
However, some readers criticised what they claimed was a lack of bins in the area. WalesOnline reader Panthur wrote: “Where are people expected to put their litter... in the bin right? When there is only one bin in the whole street, what then?
“Temporary skips/bins seems like a good idea, but I wonder if the postmatch cleanup operation is actually cheaper to run than bringing in and removing lots of extra bins.”
Councillor Michael Michael, cabinet member for clean streets and recycling for Cardiff Council, said: “The council has a proven track record of cleaning up the city centre after large events and this game wasn’t any different.
“For health and safety reasons it is very difficult to clean up when there are so many people in a certain area, so when they leave, the work begins in earnest.
“The team did an excellent job in the early hours of Tuesday morning working from 3.30am until 7.00am to clean up the city and I would like to thank them all for their efforts.”