SEVERAL fast food companies have come together in a bid to help keep a town's streets cleaner.

Managers from four fast food outlets have signed an agreement with Maidstone Borough Council and the town centre management to cut down on litter in the county town.

The voluntary code of practice was drawn up after the council took part in a pilot study for the Government's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs looking at ways of tackling litter.

The outlets which sign up to it will be expected to hold regular litter patrols as well as publicising the campaign among their customers.

The code has been signed by the council's cabinet member for environment Cllr Malcom Robertson (Lib Dem), the manager of The Mall Chequers shopping centre Paul Alcock and the managers of KFC, McDonald's, Wimpey and Burger King.

At the signing ceremony, the council's deputy chief executive Trevor Gasson said: "Having a clean and tidy borough and town centre has always been a priority.

"The code of practice covers three key areas - providing litter patrols in and around the outlets, installing sponsored bins and most importantly encouraging people to deal with their litter in a responsible way.

"We could deal with it by serving notices on premises which cause a problem but I think it is better to move forward together in a positive way. I would like to thank all the council staff who have worked on this project and the managers from all the restaurants who have signed up."

The launch was supported by Captain Clean, the superhero who has been spearheading the council's campaign to tidy up Maidstone and staff from some of the restaurants who have signed the new code.