A little girl was so upset by the litter in her west Oxfordshire town that she begged her mum to let her clean it up.

Niamh Woods, seven, and her mum Sarah, 31, were walking along the alley that connects Ducklington Lane with Corn Street in Witney, when they saw frogs laying their eggs in a ditch alongside the path.

However, noticing the ditch was so full of litter, Niamh was worried for the frogs and persuaded her mum to help her clean the ditch — rather than go to the park and play on the swings.

Mrs Woods, of Colwell Drive, said: “She was quite upset by what she saw and was very worried about the frogs.

“So we went back to the house and got changed, grabbed some gloves and rubbish bags and went back down to the ditch.”

After a couple of hours the pair had filled two rubbish bags with litter.

“This is a very popular walk way for people going into town as it runs through from The Leys to Corn Street,” said Mrs Woods.

“The bins along there were overflowing and there was a lot of litter. After we finished clearing up what we could, I gave the council a call and they said they would get someone out in the next day or two.”

Mrs Woods’ call to the council was on March 11.

A week later they went back down to the ditch to see what had been done.

“There was still litter there that had been there when we were cleaning up,” said Mrs Woods.

Junior eco warrior Niamh said she was very upset by the litter and the harm it was causing the environment.

She said: “ Animals live like us and I don’t want them to get hurt because of our rubbish.

“It made me feel good picking up the rubbish because I like cleaning up stuff and I knew I was helping animals live.”

Mrs Woods added: “She does care a lot about litter.

“I think I’m going to have to start carrying some gloves around with me because she always wants to pick it up.”

West Oxfordshire District Council said the land the ditch was in was private property.

A spokesman said they would pass on the comments to the land owner.

He added: “We are aware there is a capacity issue with some litter bins in the district.

“Because of this we are currently reviewing provision and making adjustments as necessary.

“We welcome comments from residents and we would like to reassure them that the council always responds to any reports received of overflowing bins and the ones on Ducklington Lane and the Springs have been collected.”