Council bosses have been given the go-ahead to clear up tonnes of rubbish left by travellers at an illegal campsite near Didcot.

Travellers were forced off the Hadden Hill beauty spot in January after a two and a half year battle.

They left behind mountains of rubbish, including more than 400 old tyres, burned out caravans, rubble, oil drums, fridges and washing machines.

David Dodds, cabinet member for environmental services at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: "The travellers left the land at Hadden Hill in a totally unacceptable state.

"Since they made no effort to contact us or clear up the immense amount of rubbish, we will have to take the lead in resolving the situation.

"Residents can rest assured the vast eyesore that has blighted this area will soon be cleared up, and we will do everything in our power to prevent it from reoccurring."

The council said the cost of clearing the site looked set to run into thousands.

But it said costs would be kept down by using people on community service from the Thames Valley Probation Unpaid Work Unit.

Council member Patrick Greene, who suggested the idea, said: "Not only are the probationers helping the community and the environment, but clearing the site in this way should considerably lessen the cost to the council."

Offenders sentenced to perform between 40 and 300 hours of unpaid work for the community, will take part in next month's clear-up, which is expected to take several weeks.

Erica Swift, manager of the Oxford Unpaid Work Unit, said they were delighted to be working in partnership with the council to improve local communities and make them safer.

She added: "We like to channel that work into productive projects which pay something back to communities from which the offenders have taken."

About 30 travellers arrived on the site, off the A4130, in July 2004.

The council obtained a High Court injunction in the September, limiting the numbers of caravans on the site and served an enforcement notice in November ordering the travellers to leave.

But the travellers appealed, and as landowners, were allowed to remain on the site until the appeal was heard.

A Government planning inspector dismissed the appeal in January, ordering the group to leave and return the site to its original state.

Last month the council wrote to the travellers, who own the 3.5 acre site, ordering them to clean up the mess by September 5.

But the letter was met with silence.