A litter pickers group who recently enlisted Mcdonald's staff for one of their clear ups has slammed the council for not doing enough to keep the town clean.

Bicester Litter Pickers, a group started and managed by Bicester resident Jamie Jessett, enlisted the help of Bicester and Baynards Green McDonalds’ staff yesterday to clear rubbish from the streets.

The small group, made up of two Bicester Litter Picker volunteers and ten McDonald’s workers, spent over an hour picking up litter around the Bicester McDonald's and then Whitelands Farm Sports Ground.

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Ten black bin bags were filled in total, with items such as sweet wrappers, sandwich packs and McDonald's takeaway bags.

Mr Jessett said: “I just want to live in a nice, clean area. The environment around us plays a massive part in our mental health.

“Not only that but keeping our town tidy sets a good example for the younger generations.

“We want people to come to our town and appreciate it, so we need to keep it clean.”

Mr Jessett – who was given a Good Citizens Award at Bicester’s Mayor Making event in May - spends his days litter picking around the town, and regularly posts on Facebook trying to encourage others to join him.

He said: “The main aim of Bicester Litter Pickers is to get more people in the community going out and cleaning up all areas of the town.

“People could just focus on the area they live in, and that way we would have small teams whose work would help to keep the whole town tidy.

“It would be good to get more schools involved too. We should educate as many people as possible.

“The council doesn’t empty the public bins regularly enough. I empty a lot of council bins; they’re just not emptied in time.

“It would be good to have more bins too.

“Another issue is the fly tipping that happens around the bottle banks, I think we need CCTV to deter offenders from doing this.”

A spokesperson for Cherwell District Council said: “We commit considerable resources to keeping the district clean, with street cleaning costing over £1m a year and staff working seven days a week.

“The bins in Bicester are emptied regularly and we receive very few complaints of them overflowing.

“In the town centre we have an operative routinely emptying bins and picking litter throughout the day on a full-time basis.

“All litter bins are installed and maintained by Bicester Town Council.

“The bring banks are for the recycling of materials such as glass and they are cleared and cleaned on a regular basis by our waste and recycling team.”

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1

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