A TOWERING mountain of rubbish has returned at Oxford's 'super dump' as councils admit they have no idea who is ditching the rubbish or when it will be removed.

Oxfordshire councils cannot say how they will prevent the eyesore costing taxpayers thousands of pounds in future as tonnes of mattresses, building waste and doors are pile up in the entrance to travellers' site Redbridge Hollow, Oxford.

The latest escalation of rubbish has sparked fresh concerns over the growing eyesore, with a rat infestation now taking over the dumping ground.

In the past, Oxfordshire's taxpayers have footed the bill to clean up the mess, including £280,000 in 2010.

And with Oxfordshire County Council - the owners of the travellers' site - failing in their attempts to prevent the mountains of waste returning, it is not known whether the problem will ever be eradicated.

The county council said officers 'had not been able to identify' the fly tipping criminals and emails seen by the Oxford Mail revealed they have no timescale of when the current mess will be shifted.

Head of community protection services for the county council Richard Webb admitted in an email that none of the actions taken to prevent fly tipping - such as installing fences, CCTV cameras and carrying out enforcement operations - had 'effectively' prevented the problem.

He added: "In the last few months there has been a rapid escalation in the rate and amount of illegal tipping taken place in the area.

"As a result we are now seeing this problem having a greater community impact. We are aware of the problems the tipping is causing. However, the cost of clearing the waste is significant and we are concerned that we will see further tipping on any area of land that we clear."

The majority of rubbish is in the entrance to the travellers' site, which is in the jurisdiction of the Vale of White Horse, but owned buy the county council.

Other spots blighted by waste include the allotments, which are owned and in the district of Oxford City Council.

Mr Webb said the solution to the problem needed to involve the Gypsy, traveller community and added he was meeting with the police and district councils to discuss further options they now need to explore.

He said: "Officers from my Gypsy and Traveller Service continue to speak with residents on the site about the problem but as yet no-one has either identified the people involved in the tipping or provided us with a possible solution to the problem.

"This is despite many of the residents being very concerned about the problem and wanting to see it resolved."

Bob Johnston, county councillor for Kennington, said the 'tangled' problem had existed since he was first elected in 1993.

The Liberal Democrat added a partnership approach was needed to solve the issue.

He added: "It's a historic problem.

"It's extremely annoying. It's everyone's responsibility."

Rosanne Bostock, leader of Oxford's annual litter pick, OxClean, said the rubbish was 'absolutely appalling'.

She added OxClean volunteers had came across the super dump, but that the tonnes of waste needed to be dealt with by 'professionals'.

Bob Price, Oxford City Council leader, said the city council were dealing with the rubbish leading up allotment plots. The majority of rubbish is in the entrance to the travellers' site.

He said the city council had paid 'a lot of money' towards clearing up the rubbish in the past and that there was a 'security problem' in preventing crimes being committed.

He added: "The fundamental question is how to keep it clean in the future. We have tried putting cameras in and gates in. The cameras came crashing to the ground and the padlocks were broken.

"It's a clear problem of anti-social behaviour on a massive scale."

Mr Price said it was a 'big headache' and an expensive one and said the problem had escalated since Christmas.

Previously, Paul Holland, environmental protection manager for Vale and South, told the Oxford Mail a big problem in the county was 'professional fly-tippers' offering to take rubbish away for between £50 and £70, which would then be dumped down a back road or in a field.

County council spokesman Paul Smith added: "Not all the rubbish is on Oxfordshire County Council land. We are planning how to deal with the rubbish that is on our land.

"At this time we do not know who is illegally tipping waste in this area."

Mr Smith said the county council and other district authorities had been 'unable to successfully identify the individuals responsible' for fly tipping on the so-called super dump, and added investigations were ongoing to seek the people responsible.