A PATCH of land in Oxford that was once home to mountains of rubbish and an meeting place for illegal bike racers has been reclaimed by the community.

For two years Barton residents have been trying to get the land, next to existing allotments at the end of Barton Village Road, back from Oxford City Council.

The land, which was used for allotments in the past, was returned to the council in 1995 after the number of plots in use slumped.

Since then it has been used as for flytipping and for scrambler motorbike racing.

The Barton Fields Allotment Association decided to ask for a new lease on the land in July 2009, after the number of people on the waiting list for their own patch of land to grow fruit and vegetables soared.

A deal was finally reached last September, after two years of negotiations with the council.

Since then, volunteers from the association have been hard at work clearing the area.

Association secretary Linda Kimber said demand for allotments had risen steadily over the past five years, from about 30 people using the existing plots in 2007, to about 60 people now, with many more waiting for new ones to become available.

She said: “The land along Barton Village Road has been used since the Second World War for allotments.

“But by 1995 there were so few people up here working the area, about eight, that half of the land was given up to Oxford City Council.

“We needed to prove there was demand for the allotments before the land was given back.”

Members of the association’s clean-up team have filled several skips with rubbish from the land, including household waste, weeds and old car parts.

Ms Kimber added: “We haven’t quite found any Roman coins, just a lot of rubbish.

“We will be ploughing the land later this week and are looking forward to offering between 20 and 30 new plots to people very soon.”

A city council spokesman said: “We have agreed to increase the area let to the Barton Allotment Association, which allows them to bring more plots into cultivation.”