Monday, 14th August 06

Following the city's largest annual event attended by 120,000, Pride organisers praise contractor William Cole for cleansing the park in record time.

Preston Park is already cleaner than it was before the infrastructure moved in a week ago. The final steps take place today (Wednesday) with a specialised machine provided by the council to suck up the few remains of bottles brought on by a minority of festival goers, despite public pleas in advance not to bring glass to the event.

There were setbacks in the operation such as a gang of youths setting fire to a large skip resulting in it having to be emptied out back onto the park to then be refilled by a ten man team over four hours once the flames had been dealt with.

Recycling procedures were planned a year in advance and Pride is pleased to report that more litter has been separated and recycled successfully. With specific recycling points manned throughout the event, it was encouraging to see the public using the bins provided for this use. The cost of the clear up operation is currently estimated at around £16,000, fully funded by the charity.

Pride would like to thank residents for their patience and are confident the park will be completely clear a day ahead of schedule (Thursday).