THE woman behind Oxford's city-wide litter pick scheme has been bestowed with praise from the Prime Minister.

OxClean founder Rosanne Bostock has been handed a Points of Light award, given to volunteers who make 'outstanding' contributions to their communities.

The group runs the city's annual spring clean every March, which sees hundreds of volunteers go out onto the streets to help clean up the area where they live.

ALSO READ: The full story behind OxClean

In a personal letter to Mrs Bostock, Theresa May said: "The success of your ‘OxClean’ initiative is testament to your extraordinary commitment to cleaning the streets of the beautiful city of Oxford.

"The support from volunteers you have inspired to take part clean-up is truly remarkable. You should feel incredibly proud of the impact you have made in reducing littering in your community."

Grandmother Mrs Bostock, 79, was one of five recipients named Points of Light, to coincide with Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean.

She joined the other four winners to recreate an image, which helped the Women’s Institute launch the Keep Britain Tidy campaign in the 1950s.

Oxford Mail:

Pics: Keep Britain Tidy

Oxford Mail:

The original image

The Points of Light award recognises outstanding individual volunteers who are making a change in their community.

Mrs Bostock coordinates more than 1,200 volunteers and 30 businesses across the city to take action on litter.

She founded OxClean after encountering a similar initiative in Sydney while travelling, and was inspired to bring the concept back to her home city, with backing from Oxford City Council.

In 2017 volunteers cleared 4.5 tonnes of litter - an improvement compared to the 10 tonnes cleared in 2007.

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As well as participating in Keep Britain Tidy’s annual Great British Spring Clean, Mrs Bostock has also launched the Spotless Oxford campaign, to encourage more than 30 leading businesses and institutions in the city to clear up outside their premises on a regular basis.

She said: "Cans, plastics and fast food packaging cause much of today’s litter.

"Without in depth changes to packaging content and signage, the problems of litter will not go away."

Keep Britain Tidy's chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: "Rosanne, like all of our Points of Light winners, is making a difference.

"[She is] taking the message that littering is unacceptable to the widest possible audience, using 21st century tools like social media, as well as organising litter-picks and engaging their communities.

"They are a remarkable group and we are incredibly proud to count them among our supporters, leading the army of litter heroes volunteers – which, with this year’s Great British Spring Clean, has risen to more than half a million."

She branded litter a 'scourge in our country.'