AFTER the fun of Cowley Road Carnival came the clean up, and this year it took just one hour for a team of 10 from Oxford’s Streetscene team to return the street to normal.

The road was filled with 50,000 revellers on Sunday, enjoying art, food, entertainment and a colourful procession at Oxford's biggest annual street party.

As soon as the festivities were over at 5pm the city council’s cleaning team sprang into action.

Armed with large mechanical sweepers, they swept down Cowley Road clearing all litter in their path.

Hailed as the ‘unsung heroes’ of the event by carnival organisers, the team had already worked throughout the day to stop the litter building up, and once the carnival was over they took around an hour to get the road cleaned.

Paul Newell, one of the Streetscene sweeper drivers, said: “I really enjoy working on the Carnival. It is very challenging with the number of people attending and the volume of waste that is generated but there is always a great atmosphere and people seem very grateful for the work we do.”

Nick Williams, the carnival’s event manager, thanked them for their ‘heroic effort’ adding: “When everyone has eventually left after carnival, it becomes painfully obvious what is left behind.”

The waste has gone to Virador’s Energy Recovery Facility at Ardley where it will be incinerated and used to make electricity.