Is Glasgow the third dirtiest city in the world? Time Out magazine just might be right

The travel and entertainment magazine said 67% of people in Glasgow, who responded to their survey, said the city was dirty and only New York and Rome were worse.

The Glasgow Times this week is heading out around the city to see for ourselves how clean or dirty Glasgow is.

READ MORE: Is Glasgow the third dirtiest city in the world? We test Time Out magazine's verdict

We looked at Woodside, Possilpark, Springburn, Maryhill, North Kelvinside and Woodlands on a nine-mile tour around some of the main streets.

What we found were mixed results with some streets desperately in need of a clean-up and others where the pavements were spotless.

For the streets that were the dirtiest on our visits yesterday, the council said they are swept three times a week.

The difference appears to be, in part, a result of the frequency of street cleaning.

There is also an issue with people discarding litter - mostly food and drink cartons and cups, cans and bottles.

Some of the rubbish we spotted was commercial put out in bags to be collected, but in such large quantities that created a poor impression.

READ MORE: Spotlight: Glasgow eyesores that need the owners to take responsibility

In others, there was litter that had obviously been lying for a long time, possibly weeks.

From businesses leaving out bags, to pavements and street gutters strewn with litter and fast food cartons and paper drinks cups discarded on the roadside, it was easy, in some areas, to see why people would describe the city as dirty.

Heading north, out of the city centre along Garscube Road, the street looks clean.

Further up on Possil Road there was a patch of grass beneath advertising hoardings, covered with litter that had been there for days at least, if not longer.

In Saracen Street, at lunchtime, just after noon, we found somewhere where the cleansing teams were urgently required.

Bags of rubbish were piled up at the two bins on the main shopping part of the street and in between the street was full of rubbish.

It was clear it had not been cleaned, so far, that day.

Heading up to Springburn, it was a similar story. Near the leisure centre on Springburn Way, there was litter on the side of the road and trapped among weeds. Bags were left beside bins and litter lying around them.

On Keppochhill Road, trapped among bushes, there was a large amount of litter.

It was mostly discarded fast food cartons, wrappers and coffee cups from the main chains, despite there being none of the outlets within more than a mile.

Heading up Garscube Road towards Maryhill, the picture was starting to improve.

Garscube Road between the Round Toll and Queens Cross was fairly clean. Maryhill Road, from Queens Cross up to the Tesco supermarket beside Wyndford, was very clean, with barely a spot of litter to be found.

Down through North Kelvinside and Queen Margaret Drive was similar.

Heading into the West End and through Kelvinbridge on Great Western Road was also far cleaner.

Around into Woodlands Road, there was no rubbish to be found.

The impression is that depending on what day of the week or time of day some streets can be cleaner than others.

The council said the frequency of street cleaning and bin emptying is dependent on footfall in the areas.

The city centre has the higher footfall and the most frequent visits by the cleansing teams.

Outside the city centre, high streets will not be cleaned every day.

A spokesman for the council said: “Both Saracen Street and Springburn town centre are busy areas of the city and we target our resources at these places accordingly.

“There is a regular street cleansing response on both streets with mechanical street sweepers operating once a week, manual street sweeping taking place twice a week and street bins being emptied every two to three days.

“We also have supervisors making regular checks on both areas and if they identify any issues with litter or fly-tipping then we will respond.

“Unfortunately a minority of people do not dispose of their waste appropriately, either by dropping litter, using public recycling points for general waste, leaving bags or other waste next to bins or where businesses use public bins for commercial waste.

“We urge those who drop litter or dispose of waste inappropriately to respect their community and deal with their rubbish in the right way.

“We also encourage residents to report issues to us as we will respond to their concerns.”