Litter, street cleaning and dog fouling

We spend around £650,000 each year cleaning streets and paths, which includes emptying bins and picking up litter. Compared to other districts, West Oxfordshire has low levels of litter and standards are higher than the national average.

Litter

If you see an overflowing bin, please take your rubbish and dog waste home with you if possible.

There are about 750 litter bins located around West Oxfordshire. They are emptied at a variety of times depending on how heavily they are used.

Report an overflowing bin

We remove litter and fly-tipping from public land, including, streets, roadside verges and parks. We support groups carrying out litter picks in their own communities and have produced a litter information pack outlining ways we can help.

Report a street cleaning or litter problem

See also our page on Fly tipping

Litter information pack - pdf - 240 Kb

Where stocks allow we will provide interested volunteer groups and individuals with:

Litter grabbers
Refuse bags (and we can collect any bagged up litter after the clean up event)
Advice and assistance for issues such as graffiti removal, fly-tipping and other similar concerns

To register for a litter picking project, complete our general enquiry form.

Dog fouling

Dog fouling is when a person permits a dog in their charge to foul in a public place and fails to clean it away immediately after. Failure to clear up dog fouling on public land is classed as a criminal offence and anyone found failing in their duty can be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice.

A public place refers to land to which the public has access to within built up areas of the district, such as roads, gutters, footpaths, verges, pedestrian areas, parks, school playing fields, sports grounds, and cemeteries.

Report dog fouling

Any fouling in a public place should be quickly removed using a suitable plastic bag. Simply pick up the waste using the bag, tie a knot in it and dispose of the dog waste in:

A dedicated dog waste bin (there are currently 500 dog waste bins installed in the district)
Any general litter bin
One of the dual-purpose litter and dog waste bins

Alternatively, take the bagged dog waste home and dispose of it in your grey wheeled bin used for household waste. Please do not put dog waste in refuse bins belonging to other residents which may be at the kerb awaiting collection or in any recycling containers.

Dog waste is a problem because:

Dog faeces carry many germs that can cause illness and in extreme cases could result in blindness
It is both offensive to smell and to look at, and is extremely unpleasant to step in

Street cleaning

Here are some frequently asked questions about street cleaning:

Street cleaning FAQs

Who maintains the roads and pavements?

Potholes, broken street lighting, faulty traffic lights and loose paving can be reported and viewed a directly and quickly to Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority for the area the Fix My Street website.

Weeds on pavements are the responsibility of Oxfordshire County Council.

Who cleans the roads and pavements?

We clean roads, pavements and council-owned land regularly.

We are not responsible for street cleaning on private or unadopted roads, town or parish council land or road verges outside the 30mph zone.

How regularly do the road and paths get swept?

We set our mechanical sweeping and manual litter picking schedules based on local knowledge of the area, with the busiest areas being cleaned more frequently.

What happens if leaves or litter block public drains?

If you notice a public drain is blocked by leaves, please report it to Oxfordshire County Council for drain clearing and Thames Water.

Is the district council responsible for other areas such as car parks, cycle paths, green spaces and play areas?

This is the landowner’s responsibility. However, if you have a query about a particular area, you can contact us and we can look up who this is for you.

Who cuts the grass and when?

Landowners should maintain their own grass areas. We are only responsible for cutting grass areas we own or those areas contracted to us for regular maintenance. We cut the grass on district land 10 times a year. This is usually once every two weeks through the growing season (April to November). Grass clippings are left to naturally break down on the surface of the grass areas. Grass verges outside the 30mph zone are looked after by Oxfordshire County Council who are the highways authority for the area.

Who cuts the hedges and maintains shrub beds?

We cut over 30,000 metres of hedge every year in council car parks, on open spaces or housing owned by the council and along some highways. The hedges are cut twice a year. Hedges on private property should be cut and maintained by the owner or occupier of the property.

Dead animals

We collect dead domestic and wild animals that have been involved in road traffic accidents on the highway usually within 24 hours of it being reported. If domestic animals have been micro-chipped we will endeavour to make contact with the owners.

Abandoned shopping trolley

For information on how to report an abandoned shopping trolley see here.