Litter campaign pays off
7:27pm Wednesday 27th August 2008
Street cleaners in Oxford are living up to their promise to keep the city's main shopping area clear of litter.
Last month, reader Andrew Barry was so disgusted by the overflowing bins that he took shocking photos.
Fast food wrappers were shown strewn across the middle of the street, as bins overflowed with rubbish.
But one month on, an inspection of the street revealed a considerable improvement.
A visit at lunchtime on yesterday showed the bins next to seating areas were almost empty and there was only a small amount of litter on the ground nearby.
Following the story a month ago, John Tanner, executive member for a cleaner, greener city, pledged council staff would keep litter under control.
He said: "I am very impressed by the actions of city council staff, food outlets and members of the public who have worked together in Cornmarket to keep the street clean.
"Keeping Cornmarket clean is a continual process throughout the day, which starts at 5am when the street is washed, and then there are rubbish patrols throughout the day.
"Shops can also play a part by not using so much packaging. What annoys me the most is young people chewing gum and spitting it out in Cornmarket, leaving nasty black stains which need specialised cleaning."
Mr Tanner said the problem with overflowing bins arose in Cornmarket the day after a strike involving local government staff.
He explained the day-long strike meant staff focused on beating the backlog of wheelie bin collections, and did not pay enough attention to keeping Cornmarket clean.
Fred Kent, 75, from Romford, Essex, said: "This street isn't pristine but it's pretty clean and I wouldn't say Oxford has a really bad litter problem."
Gerald Freer, 73, from Leeds, added: "This street looks a lot better than some of the ones in Leeds, where there is a major problem with chewing gum - I've had a good look at the floor and so far I haven't seen any gum."
After the photos of the overflowing bins were published, McDonald's, KFC and Burger King joined forces with the city council to provide half-hourly litter-picking patrols.