DIY duo move in to tackle city grot spot (From Oxford Mail)

DIY duo move in to tackle city grot spot

6:30pm Friday 20th November 2009

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CAMPAIGNERS moved in to clear the “disgusting” former Bar Risa premises after they became swamped in rubbish.

Takeaway wrappers, vodka bottles, cigarette butts and vomit have covered the seating area outside the Hythe Bridge venue since the bar and its fellow business Jongleurs went into administration last month.

Ros Weatherall and Sheila Glazebrook, from Oxford Civic Society group Oxclean, moved in with litter picks and plastic bags today.

And they accused those responsible for the mess of having a “lack of civic pride” – before collecting four refuse sacks of rubbish and one recycling container of glass in just one hour.

Mrs Weatherall said: “We thought enough is enough. The area looked disgusting and needed to be cleaned up immediately.

“This is a busy part of the city and one of the first areas visitors arriving by train will see. It does not leave a good first impression, and the people who have dumped this litter are displaying a lack of civic pride.

“We had a meeting last week and Sheila suggested we take action into our own hands, so we did.”

Mrs Weatherall added other businesses in the city could do more to clean up the streets.

She said: “We all need to take responsibility, and it would be nice if more traders around Oxford looked after the areas immediately around their premises.”

The clean-up comes just three weeks after Oxford City Council and the Oxford Mail launched the Cleaner Greener Oxford campaign, aimed at sprucing up our litter-strewn streets.

Mrs Glazebrook added: “Rubbish attracts rubbish and the situation here was getting worse and worse.

“It looks like people have been having parties here and have just dumped everything. It looked really awful, and cleaning it up was our only option, even though it is not our responsibility.”

The venue was shut down in October with the loss of 15 jobs after its owner Regent Inns went into administration.

Across the country, five Jongleurs clubs closed, with the remaining 10 being bought by a newly created firm called Intertain.

A spokesman for the Oxford Retreat restaurant next door branded the site “an eyesore.”

He said: “It is not very nice and it slightly reflects on the other businesses in the area.

“It would be nice if something were done about it soon.

“I have seen a few people surveying the site, so maybe it will be cleared up in the near future.

“Most of our clientele are business people and we try to present our restaurant well. This rubbish doesn’t really give people a good impression of the area.”

London based administrators BDO, which dealt with the Farepak collapse, said the premises were now the landlord’s responsibility but then refused to reveal who that was.

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