Autumn is upon us and in the days to come, we can all expect crisper days, shorter nights and beautiful foliage across the borough’s parks and gardens.

This, of course also brings plenty of falling leaves with it – which is why Ealing Council’s street-sweeping teams will be tackling the seasonal increase by ensuring that roads and pavements around important public places are as safe as possible for residents.

The council has reviewed the locations where leaf fall is at its heaviest and will target these areas for a period of up to 10 weeks. Street-sweeping teams will prioritise the clear-up of fallen leaves in areas outside schools, hospitals and day centres where the borough’s most vulnerable residents may be walking.

This will be followed by shopping areas and public transport stations, then steep hills with slippery surfaces, and then other streets where heavy leaf fall could block drains and create a flood risk.

In addition, normal scheduled cleansing of streets will still be carried out with extra mobile teams and staff, some with leaf blowers, so that other reported leafy streets can be identified for cleaning as quickly as possible.

Councillor Mik Sabiers, cabinet member for environment and highways said: “Ealing is rightly recognised as one of the greenest, most attractive boroughs in the capital with tree-lined streets and beautiful parks. This means we often get a high volume of fallen leaves at this time of year.

“Fallen leaves can become slippery in wet weather. The extra resources mean we can get to the problem areas quicker and respond to locations identified as a priority. We will be concentrating on keeping residents safe this autumn by tackling the high traffic areas, schools and places visited by some of our most vulnerable residents.”

Should you wish to report a street for leaf clearance please call 020 8825 6000 and we will arrange an inspection as soon as is possible.

The council also offers a fortnightly chargeable garden waste collection service which is a quick and environmentally-friendly way of disposing of leaves and cuttings from your garden.