AFTER thousands visited Tavistock for the annual Goose Fair on Wednesday, West Devon Borough Council’s clean up team once again completed the mammoth task of clearing the streets and maximising the amount of waste recycled, in record time.

Over eight tonnes of waste and recycling was cleared in under five hours by the dedicated team of street cleaners after another successful Goose Fair.

West Devon Borough Council’s clean-up operation began as the stallholders finally packed away, around 1.30am.

The 20-plus strong crew worked against the clock clearing mainly food waste and cardboard packaging to make sure that Tavistock’s streets were spotless again for early commuters and ready for the opening of the high street shops in the morning. 

The council’s contractors, FCC Environment cleaned the roads, swept the pavements, and collected the litter generated by the fair from the park and residential gardens in the centre of town. Most of the waste consisted of road sweepings but crews separated one and a half tonnes of cardboard and 65kg of textiles for recycling. A further 600kg of mixed recycling was salvaged by painstakingly picking through the rubbish after taking it back to the depot.

Leader of West Devon Borough Council, Cllr Philip Sanders said: ’Every year, thousands visit Tavistock for a fair which celebrates town and country. I would like to thank all of the fairgoers, Tavistock Town and West Devon Council officers and market stallholders, for all their efforts every year in making one of Tavistock’s most famous events the success that it is.’

Lead Member for commercial services, Cllr Robert Sampson, thanked the council’s contractors for their efforts: ’Our contractors and our own West Devon officers work around the clock to tidy the town after the celebrations have finished and ensure Tavistock is ready for business by the next morning. It’s a huge operation of which few people realise the scale. The amount the dedicated team were able to extract for recycling this year is a credit to the team. Thank you to everyone who works so hard to have Tavistock looking spick and span "the morning after".’