CITY councillors are discussing whether to move recycling bins which have become a magnet for flytippers in Cowley.

The bins at the entrance to the Oxford Retail Park are frequently left strewn with waste despite twice-daily collections by council workers.

Now the council has met representatives from nearby Tesco to discuss the problem, with a view to possibly moving the bins to a more suitable location away from the retail park entrance.

Blackbird Leys Parish Council chairman Gordon Roper also called for the bins to be moved.

He said: “It’s been a problem for the past two or three years.

“Everyone dumps rubbish there.

“It’s well used, but when you go there after the weekend it seems people have emptied their garages of all their stuff.

“I think it’s wrong to go into a shopping area and see a dump.

“It’s an absolute mess, and it would be a good idea to get rid of it.”

Minutes from the south east area committee meeting last month included comments from council officer Doug Loveridge.

It stated: “This area remained very untidy, despite twice daily collections by the city council.

“He (Mr Loveridge) felt the time had come to discuss the issue with Tesco in order to seek a mutually suitable solution and that the issue should be debated by the area committee.”

Oxford City Council spokesman Louisa Dean said: “We are in very early stages of discussion with Tesco regarding the site.

“It would be inappropriate to discuss this further at this stage.”

Tesco spokesman James Wiggam confirmed they were in discussion with the council about moving the bins, but refused to comment further.

Earlier this year, the city council revealed it had bought a £15,000 CCTV camera designed to catch flytippers in the act at hotspots on the city’s streets.

Recordings are to be used as evidence in prosecutions against flytippers.