Full marks to all those who turned out at the weekend to give Oxford a much-needed spring clean.

Hundreds of people - young and old - answered a call by the Oxford Civic Society to tackle the city's litter hotspots.

Be sure - there was plenty for the teams to do, wherever they set to work.

We reported in our Memory Lane section yesterday how the city council struggled to cope with mountains of litter in 1941.

Times clearly don't change - people are as filthy now as they were then.

City streets, parks and footpaths - indeed, everywhere you look - are strewn with assorted rubbish, making the place look like a tip.

And you only have to see the grass verges on the ring road to realise the extent of the litter problem.

Do we really want to live in such squalor?

Why don't people take their rubbish home, or put it in the bins that are provided?

Some say that once an area is cleaned up, it encourages people to keep it that way.

We hope they are right, but we are not optimistic.

Judging from previous experience, we suspect it won't be long before the worthy litter pickers in action this weekend will be called out again.