Data collected by the Audit Commission from all the area’s local authorities shows 24 per cent of the district’s land and highways were deemed “dirty” in the year from March 31 2006-7 – the worst result.

Leeds came 17th out of 21 councils, with 17.3 per cent of streets seen as dirty during the same period.

Tim Roache, regional secretary for GMB – which ranked the nationwide figures from best to worst – said: “Overall we have seen a 14 per cent improvement in streets’ cleanliness across England in the last year.

“But there are still too many councils not putting enough effort and resources into keeping their streets clean – and that has got to change.”

GMB is calling for councils to employ more street cleaners and pay for them partly by imposing a levy on fast food outlets.

Cleaning initiatives – including new cigarette bins and a £25,000 campaign to blast chewing gum from streets in Pontefract – has been launched by Wakefield Council.

Expert cleaners are also targeting Castleford and the authority is considering banning the handing out of certain flyers without permission.

A council spokesman said the 24 per cent figure was old as it was given to the Audit Commission as the best value performance indicator result for 2006-7.

She added: “We have just completed the survey for 2007-8 which has shown a tremendous improvement in cleanliness.

“The new result is 11.06 per cent – a 13 per cent improvement – but we do not have information to compare with other authorities.

“This has been achieved by improvements in performance through training, more street sweeper machines and targeting litter and debris hotspots.”