Ten tonnes of rubbish is being dumped in the middle of Oxford today -- and the authorities will not bat an eyelid.

The deliberate eyesore has the support of the city and county councils as it will launch a campaign that promotes recycling.

The councils are using the demonstration in Broad Street to highlight the amount of rubbish that goes to landfill sites in the county.

They have chosen Broad Street as the dumping place because it was formerly a ditch on the edge of the city walls.

It was only in 1674, when the walls were taken down, that the ditch was filled in.

Adam Symons, the county council's head of waste management, said: "Oxfordshire's residents throw away over 300,000 tonnes of rubbish every year.

"New Government legislation only allows a reducing proportion of this to be landfilled.

"Therefore, we have no choice -- we have to stop landfilling rubbish."

The changes start next year, when the county lets a contract for treating household rubbish.

Anne Purse, the county council's executive member for sustainable development, said the council also wanted to hear from the public about ways of cutting waste.