OLDHAM Council wants you to litter-ally dust off your thinking caps and brush up on your puns as they give you the chance to come up with names for their two new road sweepers.

Their invitation to name their fleet of gritters has attracted an avalanche of ideas over the years.

Now they want you to do the same for their recently purchased 10.5 tonne Johnston Sweepers that travel the borough picking up waste and debris left on roads, pavements, open places and streets.

If you think you can do better than Sooty and Sweep, Greta Garbage, Basil Brush, Dusty Rhodes - named after the wrestler - or Dustin Timberlake, send your entries in.

You can send in as many as you want.

Once the winning entries have been chosen they will brand the vehicles and you’ll be able to look out for them on their grime-busting missions.

Councillor Arooj Shah, Oldham Council’s Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “In recent years we’ve had a great response to our name the gritter competitions, and hopefully we’ll get the same this time round.

“We’ve always treated these competitions as a bit of fun but at the same time they also helped us raise awareness among our young people about how we keep our roads safe and clear in cold weather.

“Sadly road sweepers are an everyday sight across the country because people continue to drop litter and then local authorities have to clear up the mess – costing taxpayers ever year.

“If people did their bit and put their litter in a street bin, or took it home with them, then Oldham would be a lot cleaner and greener and recycling rates would increase.

“By naming these sweepers we hope people will make them think more about waste, littering and recycling.

“All we ask is that you try and keep your entries clean, and nothing dirty!”

Recently Oldham Council agreed to invest an extra £600,000 into street cleaning annually.

We’re also encouraging residents to work with us and show they ‘Love Where They Live’.

To find out more about how you can do #yourbit and get involved go to www.oldham.gov.uk/cleanstreets

Send your entries to us @OldhamCouncil on Twitter or via facebook at @loveoldham.

You can also email us at environmentalservices@oldham.gov.uk with your suggestions along with your name, address and contact phone number.

The competition runs until Monday, November 5, at 12pm.

If you live, study or work in Oldham you are eligible to enter.