London's mayor has launched a campaign to clean up the capital's streets.

Ken Livingstone unveiled a four-year drive, called the Capital Standard, on Tuesday to make London a tidier place for the people who live, work and visit the city.

The state of London's streets is a key issue for Londoners, with seven in 10 people identifying litter as a problem in the mayor's annual London survey MORI poll.

A total of 23 London boroughs are already signed up to the programme and are contributing more than £1m. The Mayor hopes that will be tripled through extra cash from the landfill tax initiative and sponsorship.Key to making it succeed will be bringing in fast food operators to fund an education and information campaign, on-the-spot inspections conducted by independent inspectors plus more training for local authority officers on how to use the law against vandals and litter droppers.

Livingstone was joined by environment minister Michael Meacher, Nick Dolezal, chair of the transport and environment committee, the Association of London Government and Alan Woods, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy organisers' ENCAM.

Dolezal said: "London councils are already working hard to keep the capital clean. The capital standard is an additional tool that would help the boroughs to continue improving the look and feel of London's streets. The ALG is seeking new powers from Parliament to combat fly tipping and graffiti."