Moray Council spends less money on keeping streets litter-free than any other authority in Scotland.
Figures show the authority spent £6,850 per 1,000 residents on street cleaning in 2014/15 – compared to a Scottish average of £15,816.
The bill for street cleaning has decreased across the country over the last five years, but Moray Council’s spend has almost halved in that time, from £13,441 in 2010/11.
And according to the data, Moray’s residents are among those in Scotland the least satisfied with the state of their streets.
Only 67% of people say they are happy with the cleanliness of their surrounding area.
Last night Moray MSP Richard Lochhead insisted more should be done to ensure that public areas are kept presentable, given the region’s reliance on tourist trade.
But Forres councillor George Alexander argued that, given the financial climate, the authority can not afford to maintain the same services as before – and urged local residents to do their bit to make their towns welcoming.
Mr Alexander said: “Over the past four years we have had to knock £24million off our revenue budget, we can’t do that without some things suffering.”
He added that an “absolute brigade” of volunteers would spend today tidying Forres ahead of a visit from Beautiful Scotland judges tomorrow.
“I think that is the best way forward,” he said.
“There is more hope of keeping the streets clean that way than there is of the council being able to fund it.”
The figures show that Moray is at the bottom of the table of Scotland’s 32 council areas, beneath Aberdeen City, which spends £7,830 on clearing up litter.
The region also comes 26th for cleanliness satisfaction levels, dropping from 77% in 2013/14 to 67%.
Mr Lochhead accepted that residents shared the duty of keeping Moray’s streets clean – but said the council should “prioritise” tackling litter.
He added: “Moray is a beautiful part of Scotland, and we all have a duty to keep it clean and prevent litter.
“Thankfully many local people give up their own time to do this, but the council must also recognise that more needs to be done.
“There are litter hot spots that need dealt with, particularly on local roads, and it’s important that tackling litter is made a priority – both in the interests of tourism and community morale.”
The chairman of Elgin Community Council, Alistair Kennedy, said the authority could be in danger of creating a “false economy” – but added that he sympathised with the financial pressures the council finds itself under.
He said: “I certainly think not spending enough is risking a false economy. If a tourist thinks an area looks scruffy there is little chance of them coming back.
“But it’s something the council needs to consider strategically, in today’s climate there isn’t the same funding that there once was.”
The statistics, compiled by the Local Government Benchmarking Framework, will be discussed during a meeting of Moray Council’s audit and performance review committee on Wednesday.
The authority ranked more highly on other aspects of its environmental provision. It emerged that 89% of Moray residents are satisfied with their refuse collection – above the average of 84%.
