We understand and share Daphne Tilling's frustration at the state of the Oxford ring road, Spring clean is long overdue (Oxford Mail, April 2).

The Spring Clean event, which was an initiative jointly agreed between Oxford Civic Society and Oxford City Council, has further highlighted the problem of litter in those parts of the city which our efforts have not yet managed to reach.

Of these, the ring road is one of the most important, giving so many people their first impression of Oxford as they enter the city.

The city council receives most of the complaints about the ring road, yet there are four district councils involved in its maintenance, in addition to the county council and the Highways Agency.

Combining the efforts of all these authorities is now the subject of a review being undertaken by Oxfordshire Waste Partnership, taking into account the recent experience of OxClean.

To clean the ring road as an individual authority would cost thousands of pounds in traffic management, as high speed roads and dual carriageways attract very special requirements in terms of safety and health provisions enforced by legislation.

City residents should not have to bear the full cost of what is also an essential part of the maintenance schedules of partner authorities.

However, residents in all districts should expect the cleansing operation to be done regularly, effectively and at the same time.

We very much hope that the current review will quickly produce noticeable improvements at a cost which is affordable within present tight budgets.

OxClean Spring Clean has also highlighted the need to reduce the amount of litter dropped by people in the first place, and this is another aspect of the problem which we hope to address.

TONY JOYCE Chairman Oxford Civic Society COLIN BAILEY Head of City Works Oxford City Council