A BICESTER man who lives next to a cemetery has said he is fed up with people littering there and throwing wrappers into his front garden.

Matthew Clements said that since the easing of lockdown restrictions, more rubbish has appeared in the churchyard at St Edburg’s.

He said he was tired of people leaving waste when bins are provided, expecting others to clean up after them.

He said: “It’s good that things are starting to get back to normal in Bicester. Sadly this includes antisocial behaviour such as leaving litter in the town, apparently on the presumption that it’s someone else’s job to clear it up.

Also read: Cows dies from rubbish and litter left on Port Meadow

“On Friday in the churchyard at St Edburg’s, two inconsiderate people left litter from their night-time meal despite being just 10 metres from a bin.”

Mr Clements said the problem was not that litter was left there for days, but more that people are being irresponsible.

He has also had rubbish chucked onto his property in the past.

Oxford Mail:

He added: “The clearing up isn’t much of an issue in the churchyard. It’s usually cleared up quite quickly as I think a dog walker often does it before the council gets there.

“My issue is simply the litter which, as I said, some people think is someone else’s job. There’s frequently some small stuff left around the church and we often have stuff (food wrappers, cans, bottles) in our hedge or even thrown over it.

“Rarely we’ve had a pizza someone didn’t like, etc. This sort of thing is usually in the night as a result of the various outlets who are allowed to open until silly times.”

Other Bicester residents have expressed their frustration at the amount of litter they have spotted in fields and parks in the town recently.

Also read: District council replacing litter and dog waste bins

Rachel Baxter took her son to Manston Park when play areas reopened earlier this month only to find it had been ‘trashed’.

She said on Facebook: “Absolutely gutted, parks been open for 24hrs and Manston park has been trashed.

"All the social distancing signs were ripped out and bottles of WKD were smashed everywhere.

"My two-year-old has been waiting patiently for months for the ‘broken’ parks to be fixed and I couldn’t let him go in."

Oxford Mail:

Tracy Purnell, who lives in the town, commented: “What’s the matter with people. Respect has gone out the window.”

Bicester Mayor Jason Slaymaker said it was ‘extremely disappointing’ that people had not appreciated the work of the town council in meeting Government guidelines to reopen play areas.

Mr Clements said he saw litter left around the town, too, including in Pingle Field.

He said: “It was clear that three people had eaten their meal of burgers and chips, pizza etc with lots of sauce and mayonnaise and just stood up and left it all, including the sauce packets, the paper napkins and the remains of the food.”

There have been litter problems in Oxford, too, including last month when a cow died after eating plastic bags and balloons that had been left in Port Meadow. Five horses and ten cows also had to be treated for glass cuts.