New research has revealed the UK’s greenest cities, with Oxford claiming a place in the Top 10.  

This comes following the proposal and introduction of controversial new traffic measures by Oxfordshire County Council.

Low traffic neighbourhood schemes have been introduced in the Cowley area and parts of East Oxford.

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A £6.5m trial to stop most drivers in Oxford from using busy city routes at peak times was also approved in November last year.

The traffic filters would be placed on six streets in the city and issue fixed penalty notices to those not permitted to travel through.

Over 1,800 people signed one petition opposing the project citing concerns it would cause congestion on Botley Road.

The study by national skip hire company ReliableSkip.com analysed several factors for each UK city, including the percentage of recycled, reused or composted waste, the air quality, and the number of nature and park attractions in each area.

Each city was scored and ranked out of 100 based on these factors.

Oxford took eighth place on the list, with a green score of 74.02 out of 100.

This is due to an air quality score of 3.15, 1.91 nature attractions per 10,000 people and 52.1 per cent of all household waste being recycled.

The study found that the Somerset city of Bath is the UK’s greenest city, with a ‘green score’ of 87.79.

This is due to 59.2 per cent of all household waste being recycled, along with an average air quality of 3.12, based on 2022 data, which is the joint second highest of any city.

Findings also found there to be 28 nature and park attractions in the city, which is around 3.33 per 10,000 people. 

The historic city of Canterbury took second on the list with a score of 87.54 out of 100.  

The city came in with 40.9 per cent of all household waste being recycled, along with the joint highest air quality, with a score of 3.15.

The city also has 25 nature & park attractions, which is around 4.53 per 10,000 people. 

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Cambridge ranked one place below Oxford in ninth spot.

 Commenting on the findings, Paul Bennett, operations director at ReliableSkip.com, said: “While we can all do our bit to help keep the UK, and the world, green, through methods like recycling, it’s imperative that this is also enforced and encouraged in the public eye.

“This is why it’s interesting to see the difference some cities have in their waste management, with some cities doubling others on the amount they recycle.”