Celebrations may be a little premature, but we hope residents in Headington, Oxford, will soon be breathing a sigh of relief after living near a 'landfill site' for the past six months.

The amount of rubbish dumped in the garden of a house in Benson Road has been unbelievable.

It beats us how anyone can allow such a pile of filth to build up.

The mountain of household and building waste has attracted rats and maggots and has obviously become a health hazard.

Oxford City Council has shifted six truckloads and is now having to return to clear more rubbish that has appeared since.

Hopefully, the house and garden will soon be restored to proper order and residents will be spared any further health worries, particularly to children.

We hope the council will pursue those responsible for the squalor with haste and vigour.

Landlords and tenants should not be allowed to get away with it.

They should be made to pay all the costs the council has incurred in this lengthy operation, including all legal charges. It is unfair that council taxpayers should be forced to foot a penny of the bill.

And if there is enough evidence, the council should not hesitate to prosecute.

The publicity that a hefty fine brings might stop others who are tempted to blight respectable neighbourhoods.