Barnet Council has pledged to work harder to improve the shopping areas of Golders Green following complaints from local workers and residents that area has become shabby and rubbish-strewn.

The north west London suburb is home to a large section of the capital’s Jewish population, and many of the businesses in the area are Jewish-owned.

Councillor Dean Cohen, cabinet member for environment, said: “We’re aware of issues around the state of Golders Green town centre. Last month, we held a meeting with business owners and local police officers to see what improvements we could make.”

Following the meeting, the council states it now has the shopping areas swept every afternoon. It is reviewing its street-cleaning operations borough-wide. This, it says, will bring about “further improvements”.

Mr Cohen also promised to sort out estate agents’ signs. “Our planning enforcement team will also be working closely with our street enforcement team to remove ‘To Let’ and ‘For Sale’ boards which are illegally placed on buildings,” he said.