VOLUNTEERS collected 10,000kg of rubbish during this year’s OxClean, organisers have estimated.

About 1,700 people took part in the OxClean Spring Clean 2010 last weekend, leaving the city the cleanest it has looked for years.

Organisers said the quantity of waste collected by the litter-pick volunteers was the equivalent of rubbish collections to 875 households. That’s half the size of Kennington.

People also managed to collect large quantities of scrap metal and dumped waste.

The number of groups taking part hit the 117 mark, making it the city’s biggest spring clean.

The OxClean Spring Clean 2010 event is run by the Oxford Civic Society in partnership with Oxford City Council and the Oxford Mail’s sister paper The Oxford Times.

OxClean spokesman Christine Thompson said: “We are delighted with the continued support we received from such a large number of community groups across the city.

“Not only are groups turning out year after year, but new groups are coming forward too.

“We are also very pleased that such a wide cross-section of the city’s communities is represented in terms of location within the city, age and interest group.

“The city is certainly looking much cleaner and tidier and we hope that people are noticing that a cleaner, tidier Oxford is a better, more pleasant place to be.”

More than 60 residents’ teams and at least 20 schools took part in the clean-up, choosing their own grot-spots to tackle.

West Oxford Primary School cleaned up the nearby Oatlands Recreation Ground off Ferry Hinksey Road, while SS Mary and John Church of England Primary School, in Hertford Street, collected litter in the East Oxford Adventure Playground, Meadow Lane.

As in previous years, residents cleaned up parks, residential areas, shopping centres, playing fields, pathways, car parks, green areas, towpaths and riverbanks.

Others like the Oxford Civic Society tackled the rubbish around Littlemore roundabout, while Risinghurst and Sandhills Parish Council organised a litter-pick on the A40 London Road.

Members of the sustainable transport charity Sustrans focused their energies on collecting litter along cycling routes in the south of the city.

Sustrans spokesman Celia Fry said: “The really enjoyable thing about OxClean is the sense of community spirit.

“The worst part was the numerous plastic bags filled with dog mess that dog walkers had just thrown in bushes.”

Civic Society chairman Tony Joyce said: “I hope that everyone remembers that this is not just about having a mass-clean up for the spring.

“It is about working throughout the year to make certain the environment remains nice to live in.”