A MAGNET for flytippers in Cowley could become even worse if the Redbridge dump closes to the public, a community leader fears.

The bins at the entrance to the Oxford Retail Park will be more of a mess if plans to only allow trade waste at Redbridge, Abingdon Road, go through, chairman of Blackbird Leys Parish Council Gordon Roper said.

The bins in Ambassador Avenue, Cowley, are frequently strewn with waste despite twice-daily collections by Oxford City Council.

This includes waste which should be taken to tips, such as furniture.

Mr Roper said: “I feel a lot of the East Oxford rubbish will end up at these recycling bins.

“There is so much rubbish there already and people will only dump more there.

“We want the bins moved a bit further into the car park, ideally, so it’s a bit more secure, away from public view.

“It will then make it harder for people to flytip and only responsible people will use the bins and it is less likely to be used for dumping rubbish.”

Under the plans, the number of tips would be cut from eight to five, but only one of these will take general waste from 2014, a new £3m facility at Langford Lane in Kidlington.

Alkerton, near Banbury, Drayton, near Abingdon, Oakley Wood in Wallingford, and Dix Pit in Stanton Harcourt would be for recycling only.

Ardley, near Bicester, Dean in Chadlington and Stanford in the Vale would all close.

All currently take general, also known as residual waste, and recyclable waste.

Mr Roper said county council chief Ian Hudspeth was “in cloud cuckoo land” by saying he had faith that people would not flytip.

Mr Roper said: “Someone isn’t going to drive from one side of Oxford to the other to drop off some rubbish.”

In 2009/10, 31,394 tonnes of non-recyclable rubbish were left at county tips.

But Mr Hudspeth, county cabinet member for infrastructure, said flytipping would fall as doorstep collections improve.

He said: “The proposal is based on excellent research and the city council has a good new collection service so there is less need for people to have residual waste to be taken to recycling centres.

“We intend to open Kidlington prior to the closure of Redbridge so there will be a facility to recycle, but we don’t expect law-abiding citizens to turn into law breakers by flytipping.”

John Tanner, city council board member for a cleaner greener Oxford, said: “The bins at Cowley Retail Park have been a problem for some time.

“It is my New Year’s resolution to tackle the recycling area. It’s a disgusting mess, morning after morning, and it costs the city council a lot of money to clear up.

“We are looking at what we can do now, from moving the bins to putting CCTV cameras up, and I’m hoping to do something about that soon so people won’t have the opportunity to flytip.”