A LAST minute clean-up operation will get underway today at Leith Docks following complaints about the state of the area ahead of this weekend’s high-profile International Festival of the Sea.

Local watchdogs had warned that many of the thousands of visitors expected to descend on Leith this Friday for the marine festival would be shocked by the rubbish, graffiti and even discarded fridges lying around.

Cron Mackay, the president of the Leith Civic Trust, said: "There is a lot of rubbish lying around. It is a distinct shame.

"There is an awful lack of general maintenance and the area is in need of a clean-up. There are holes in the roads and some of the pavements are downright dangerous. People have come to accept a low standard, but it is a shame for the visitors."

Forth Ports, which is responsible for the state of the docks, has now promised urgent action and threatened to prosecute those who dump old fridges there in future.

Terry Smith, the director of property at Forth Ports, said: "We are now starting a planned four-day clean-up in advance of the International Festival of the Sea.

"We make strenuous efforts to clean up in the dock area and have a continuous programme all year round, but people continue to dump rubbish here.

"Leith is on show this weekend and is expecting thousands of visitors, and we would appeal to people to show some pride in their city and stop dumping rubbish in the dock area.

"If people want to dispose of old fridges, they should contact the council which has special arrangements for their disposal," he added.

The four-day festival is expected to draw large numbers of visitors to Leith to see the harbour packed with more than 200 international vessels, including tall ships and Viking longships.