WHILE schools and residents' groups have been taking the lead in organising volunteers for next month's big Oxford spring clean, you can be sure some of the city's historic sites will not be ignored.

Five years ago the Martyrs' Memorial in St Giles' underwent a £147,000 facelift, after an appeal launched by Oxford Preservation Trust.

Now the trust is determined to mark the anniversary of the restoration by organising a litter pick at the famous Oxford landmark, during the OxClean weekend in March.

Trust director Debbie Dance is marshalling a team of volunteers and staff to clean the area around the memorial, which commemorates the three Protestant martyrs - Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer.

They will also be giving the nearby St Mary Magdalen churchyard, where rubbish is regularly discarded, a spring clean.

Priest in charge of St Mary Magdalen, the Rev Peter Groves, said: "We are delighted by news of the clean up. Our churchyard in the spring is one of the glories of central Oxford, when the flowers come out.

"It is a great shame it is sometimes a bit of a tip. The city council looks after it pretty well and things have been better in recent years. But rubbish is still thrown over the fence by people walking past, which is sad when you think there has been a church for over a thousand years."

St Mary & St John church, on Cowley Road, is also being cleaned up. Members of the Cowley St John Parish will be cleaning up the churchyard and the surrounding streets.

The OxClean Spring Clean 2008 is sponsored by The Oxford Times and run by the Oxford Civic Society and Oxford City Council.

OxClean organisers are urging residents' associations, youth groups, colleges, restaurants and pubs to join a two-hour litter pick over the weekend of March 14, 15 or 16.

As well as selecting a site, each group will be responsible for recruiting volunteers and organising the collection of litter and some of the equipment that may be needed, such as gloves.

This week saw the biggest number of volunteers coming forward since the OxClean campaign was launched.

Among those to register are Moreton Road Residents' Association, which will clean up part of rugby club field on Marston Ferry Road, and the Rotary Club of Oxford North, which will be picking in near the Woodstock Road roundabout.

Anyone wishing to take part or express an interest should visit oxclean.oxfordcivicsoc.

org.uk, email oxclean@oxford civicsoc.org.uk, or write to OxClean Spring Clean 2008, 67 Cunliffe Close, Oxford, OX2 7BJ.