Litter pickers have hit out at a council for failing to prosecute fly tippers who persistently dump rubbish around the town.
A series of photos have been shared with this newspaper recently documenting overflowing bins, fly-tipped objects at recycling centres and general litter left on the floor around Bicester.
Jamie Jessett, founder of Bicester Litter Pickers, a voluntary group dedicated to organising ‘pick ups’ around the town, argued Cherwell District Council don’t do enough to support his group.
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He said: “It’s so unfair the lack of support I have from the council.
“Most of the areas where I find huge amounts of litter and fly-tipped household items are near schools and nurseries, I just don’t think it sets a good example to young people.
“The public are seeing what my group is doing and they are pleased with it, but there needs to be more cooperation between everybody, including the council, to make our town look great.”
After Mr Jessett sent a slew of litter photos, another Bicester householder, Edward Pearce, sent in some of his own.
Mr Pearce said: “I am reporting the fly tipping at the recycling centre in Villiers Road in Kings End virtually every week to the council.
“The tipping there is persistent.
“I would like to know why the council do not take some action to try and catch the offenders who persist in dumping their rubbish there.
“Instead the council waste taxpayers’ money by just clearing away the mess, only for the fly tipping to happen again and again.
“Something needs to be done.”
Mr Jessett agreed with the sentiment that the council need to do more to dissuade offenders from fly tipping.
He said: “The council needs to listen to the public more when we express our concerns around this issue.
“They need to get out more and tidy all the bottle banks.
“But, as I’ve said in the and will continue to say, there needs to be CCTV cameras installed at all bottle banks.”
A spokesperson for Cherwell District Council said: “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.
“Any disposal of other sorts of waste at the bottle banks is illegal fly-tipping and it could result in the person placing waste next to the bank having a criminal record. “People can report issues with bins, litter and fly-tipping using our website at www.cherwell.gov.uk”
Get in touch if you have any issues with fly tipping or excess litter in your area.
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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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