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Tyres, glass bottles and a teddy bear the size of a small child were among 40 sackfuls of rubbish volunteers collected at an Abingdon beauty spot.

Residents had called on the Vale of White Horse District Council to clear up a field at Rye Farm. But at the weekend 140 volunteers from the Abingdon Baptist Church in Ock Street decided to take matters into their own hands.

The area along the banks of the Thames between Abingdon Lock and Abingdon Bridge had been inhabited for the past year by a homeless man. It is thought the man, known locally as Leslie, has now moved on.

The popular picnic site had also become a fly-tipping hot-spot, with mattresses and metal left dumped.

The litter pick was part of the national Hope 08 Million Hours of Kindness campaign, which churches across the country have taken part in. But this week neighbours said they were disappointed it was left to volunteers to clean the eyesore site up, rather than the district council.

Dominic Matterson, of East St Helen Street, wrote to the district council more than two months ago. The 43-year-old said: "It is fantastic that the Baptist Church has done it, but it shouldn't take volunteers to do it.

"The council should be on top of things, especially as it has been like that for a couple of years."

Another Abingdon resident, Stephen Roberts, of Borough Walk, also appealed to the authorities to do a better job He complained that the site was left for a year with plastic bags, electric kettles and buggies piling up.

District council spokesman Gavin Walton thanked church members for volunteering to clear the site. He said the council had supplied the equipment for the group to collect the rubbish.

He added: "Clearing the area does take a long time when we only have a small amount of resources to do it.

"We cleared up about 50 bags of rubbish in the past few weeks ourselves. We do carry out fairly regular clearing operations.

"A lot of it's up to the community to make sure they don't drop their litter there and use the litter bins."

Volunteers collected a further 60 sacks of rubbish in other locations around Abingdon, including the Ock Valley path, Milton Heights and Ferry Walk, off Wilsham Road.

The litter pick was held in co-ordination with a handful of local organisations, including the Green Gym and the Naturalist Society.

6:34pm Wednesday 7th May 2008

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