A mural along a building in Honor Oak. Photo: Ewan Munro

The council is harnessing the festive spirit to launch a new interactive way to deal with rubbish and graffiti.

The new venture, dubbed Love Clean Streets, is a website for the public to upload photos of their local area. Images can be of graffiti and rubbish for the attention of the local authority, or positive snaps that will promote the area to other Londoners. The photos are then uploaded onto a high-tech map that anyone can access.

There will also be the opportunity for browsers to follow any clean-up action taken by the authorities.

Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham, said: “This is an excellent new development. Improving the physical environment of a neighbourhood makes an enormous difference to the quality of life for those living in it.”

Meeshka Bernabe, 29, Lewisham resident said: “I don’t know if I would use it. It seems an interesting way of getting the community to participate…but then it is also that element of people having to continually follow up; people themselves absorbing the cost which would otherwise be for a member of Lewisham council to follow up these complaints.”

The website, http://www.lovecleanstreets.org/, will be officially launched on February 14. It will be accompanied with an iPhone application.