CAMPAIGNERS have issued a rallying cry to save Wantage's Letcombe Brook.

Supporters of the Letcombe Brook Project claim that town centre redevelopers could do more to preserve and promote the eco-structure of the natural stream, which runs into the town from the nearby Downs.

They say firms have failed to meet their promises to preserve the local waterside environment, which they feel has been blighted by recent building work.

Project co-ordinator Sally Wallington said she and her colleagues had been angered and disappointed by the "lack of a positive response" from developers She said that the plants put in by the developers had not survived, and there were many weeds. Also, the town's ducks are causing erosion problems, because the banks are not being held together by plant roots, and fences are failing to stop them getting out.

She said her group was considering legal action to ensure that the Vale of White Horse District Council takes enforcement action against developers KingsOak, which took over the Letcombe Park estate from the original developers, Berkeley Homes, to ensure it stands by a planning commitment to preserve a healthy brook and its local environment.

Ms Wallington, who has carried out a vigorous campaign over recent years to protect the brook, said she had received several complaints from local residents in recent weeks about litter, broken fencing and untidy landscaping, particularly along the public footpath and cycleway through the new estate.

She said: "I am working with Vale planners to get KingsOak to honour and implement the landscaping conditions that formed part of the planning conditions for the site.

"A lot of planting has failed, and fencing in the brook is inadequate to stop the many ducks from causing erosion of the banks. The banks on the KingsOak site were supposed to be a wildflower strip, but it's now just weeds."

One new resident, Mark Smith, who moved into the development last summer, said he and his family had soon become aware of the problem.

He said: "The amount of litter was beginning to build up. It was beginning to become an eyesore when compared with other areas of Wantage.

"The area is used by many people passing through, children playing football and people out for a walk, but you can't help notice the banks of the brook scattered all the way along with paper, cans, glass and an array of other rubbish."

Paul Soutar, KingsOak's technical director, admitted that the situation had been reviewed with the Vale in January, when it was agreed that planting had not taken place properly.

He said: "We have agreed that just prior to the site's transfer to the Vale's parks and leisure department, we will kill the weeds, clear the area and lay turf.

"We are still in negotiations regarding the transfer and cannot provide a date when this work will be done. However, we will ensure it is carried out as soon as possible.

"The local authority is happy with the work we have done around the banks around Letcombe Brook, which complies with the drawings approved by planning officers.

"We apologise for any debris in and around the brook that may have resulted from our construction work. I will personally assess the situation this week and will arrange for this to be quickly cleared away."

A Vale council spokesman said: "The dumping of rubbish and the duck problem at the brook are not things that can be controlled under the planning conditions, which covers planting along the brook and within the site.

"The developers have had a scheme approved for landscaping but have yet to submit a management and implementation plan."