A GAY sex hotspot at a layby on the outskirts of Oxford has been cleared to stop the area being blighted.

The overgrown wooded area surrounding the layby on the Oxford-bound A40, near Forest Hill, had become well known among the gay community in recent years.

Traditionally, the public toilets have been a magnet for gay sex, but in recent months, people have also been climbing over the fence into land owned by the Shotover Estate, trampling down the undergrowth to perform sex acts with strangers.

Motorists are now reluctant to stop there, in fear of what they might see, and flytippers have abandoned rubbish, making the area unwelcoming and dirty.

Last month police, Oxfordshire County Council, and estate managers met to arrange a clear-up of the area, mend the broken fences, and restore the layby.

Pc Paul Gregory, based at Thame police station, said: “We often get members of the public contacting us about what they have seen at the layby and it has gathered momentum in the last six or nine months.”

Managers at the Shotover Estate, owned by the Stanier family, paid for the overgrowth to be cleared, and County Hall fixed the fences.

Pc Gregory said increasing visibility in the area would hopefully deter gay sex activities at the layby.

He added: “We will continue to make sure we have a visible police presence at the site.

“The layby has been on the police’s patrol plans for years, and we’ve been working with the council and Terrence Higgins Trust to try and educate people who meet at the location and encourage them to take their activities elsewhere.”

County Hall spokesman Marcus Mabberley said: “We have put in place measures designed to make the layby a more pleasant and safer place for motorists.”