Rome given ultimatum to clean its rubbish-strewn streets.

The Lazio regional government is to make its waste disposal plants available to Rome, following the intervention of Italy's environment ministry.

The deal carries several obligations for Rome's waste collection company AMA: to clean up the city immediately, pay its suppliers and use mobile waste disposal plants, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

The agreement was reached following a meeting between the Lazio Region president Nicola Zingaretti, Rome mayor Virginia Raggi and Italy's environment minister Sergio Costa whose ministry issued the ordinance "for reasons of urgent necessity to safeguard the environment".

Costa said he believed it would take 2o days to deal with Rome's backlog of rubbish.

The move follows a public health alert issued by Rome's doctors who warned that the rubbish crisis risked passing from a "hygienic emergency to a medical emergency."

The city says the build-up of rubbish on the streets of Rome in recent months is due to a lack of available refuse disposal sites.

Photo Il Messaggero