AN area council’s environmental tidy-up contract is set to alter after a long-serving provider announced its intention to sever ties following a decade’s service to the community.

The North East Area Council - which is made up of representatives from Cudworth, Monk Bretton, North East and Royston wards - paid BCB Trading Ltd to oversee its so-called ’Tidy Team’ initiative.

However, as of June, BCB have been unable to fulfil the requirements of the contract, leading a discussion to be had at a meeting at Barnsley Town Hall yesterday.

Options are now being reviewed for the coming months as to who will take up the requirements of the £198,000 contract, with an interim provider being sought to take over from BCB.

A report said: “Members would formally like to take this opportunity to thank BCB’s contract manager and operational team for their services over this extended period.

“Their services have been valued highly by many local voluntary groups, the area team and the elected members.

“The North East Area Council is now reviewing options for ongoing service provision in the area.

“The current situation provides an opportunity to re-design the service following changes to Barnsley Council’s core services and the time-limited increase in resources due to the Love Where You Live (LWYL) campaign.

“Over the past ten years BCB Trading Ltd have delivered the area’s clean, green and tidy contract, known locally as the Tidy Team.

“As of June 2025, BCB have been unable to fulfil the requirements of the contract.

“A working group of councillors met for a workshop on July 8 at the Bow Street offices in Cudworth.

“At a further meeting on July 21, there was an agreement that agency staffing was a suitable interim provision until more information was available.

“The working group highlighted that they felt the outgoing contractor had not been providing sufficient support for volunteers and wished subsequent provision to place a greater focus on community capacity building.

“This is to transfer knowledge and understanding to residents building local resilience.

“Councillors also highlighted how much they valued the retention of competent, capable and personable staff delivering this type of service to ensure continuity of local intelligence and a relational approach to the delivery of the service.”