HOMELESS people in Oxford are reconditioning old bikes dumped at Redbridge recycling centre so they can be used again.

Oxfordshire County Council staff are working with Cowley charity Emmaus to put bicycles taken to the South Oxford centre almost as good as new.

Once a week volunteers from the homeless charity pick up any bikes suitable for reuse or for spare parts.

Volunteers are trained to rebuild the machines before they are sold at the Emmaus secondhand store in Westlands Drive on Oxford’s Northway estate.

Emmaus general manager Eddie Blaze said: “This is helping to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and gives volunteers bike maintenance skills.

“We sell refurbished bikes for much less than the cost of a new one and this means more people can afford a good quality bike.

“We also raise money for our charity at the same time.”

Since the scheme started in August, about 150 bikes have been recycled by Emmaus, saving some parts, including tyres, from going to landfill.

Oxfordshire Waste Partnership is overseeing the project. Partnership chairman Lorraine Lindsay-Gale, who is also the county councillor responsible for recycling and waste, said: “We get a lot of unwanted bikes at our recycling centres and some of them seem to be in perfectly good condition.

“The metal can all be recycled, but it’s much better to reuse the bikes and give them a new home.”

The council’s service development officer Becky Lake, who oversees the recycling centres, said: “People from Emmaus get a lot of satisfaction from doing this – they seem very enthusiastic. The metal from the bikes would normally be recycled but the tyres would have to go to landfill. Once the work has been done, the bikes can sell from £20 to £100, a lot less than you would pay in the shops.”

After the success of the Redbridge project, the county council is considering setting up similar schemes with other charities at its recycling centres in Ardley near Bicester, Alkerton near Banbury, and Dix Pit at Stanton Harcourt. Anyone who wants to donate an old bike to the scheme can take it to Redbridge from 8am to 5pm, any day of the week.

Emmaus runs a community for the homeless in Oxford Road, Cowley.

Members also refurbish and sell donated secondhand furniture at their secondhand store.