Offenders could be used to maintain communal bins in Edinburgh as the council aims to clean up the city's streets.

Criminals who have been sentenced to community service could be used to maintain and paint the bins to help keep the city tidy and discourage fly-tipping.

The city council says communal bins around tenements and flats are "under pressure" as residents raise concerns about missed collections and overflowing litter.

In August, it was revealed complaints about missed bin collections had risen by a third in the last year.

The suggestion to use offenders will be put into an action plan which will go before the council's transport and environment committee.

Convener Lesley Hinds said: "We are absolutely committed to keeping this city clean and providing citizens with a satisfactory waste collection service, and as such are focusing our resources on tackling problem areas, recognising the frustration caused by missed collections, litter or fly-tipping.

"With so many residents living in tenements and flats, our communal bins are under a lot of pressure, and we want to address this.

"By pinpointing hotspots, we aim to resolve issues by looking at things like collection frequency and bin access, as well as ways of helping the public to dispose of their waste properly."

Ms Hinds added: "Our team is also looking into improving the appearance of communal bins, which won't only encourage people to dispose of their litter responsibly, but will vastly improve the appearance of our historic streets."

The council has said it will look to "work with criminal justice and other partners" to incorporate bin maintenance in communal justice schemes.

It is understood the council will also consider installing enclosures around the bins to improve their appearance.

Chas Booth, environment spokesman for council's Green group, said they would be "interested" in seeing the proposals for using offenders for bin maintenance.

He said: "There's clearly an issue with waste collection services.

"We have published an action plan after meeting with trade unions to discuss what we can do to improve things.

"We need to listen carefully to to the workers on the front line and we need to listen carefully to residents as well."