Cowley Road is in the running for the dubious honour of being named Britain's shabbiest street.

Sabir-Hussain Mirza

The east Oxford road was nominated for the title by radio listeners because it is awash with bags of uncollected litter and dumped household waste, and its walls and disused shopfronts are plastered with posters and flyers.

Locals also blame graffiti, vandalism and a rise in prostitution as the modern scourges of one of the city's most multicultural roads.

Cowley Road is now the early front runner in a BBC Radio 5 Live search for the most unkempt street.

Labour city councillor Sabir-Hussain Mirza, who has lived in Cowley Road for more than 30 years, said: "There seems to be a lot of rubbish floating around and more needs to be done to put it right.

"A lot of places along Cowley Road look untidy and it's an ideal place to dump bags full of dangerous household waste.

"People don't realise Oxford suffers from the same inner city troubles as other big cities.

"This used to be a clean area, but the council can only do so much -- there needs to be a bit more interest and responsibility from residents who can help make this place even more beautiful."

The radio station will reveal a shortlist of contenders on April 15 and Britain's shabbiest will be named on Friday.

Aidan Larkin, owner of The Polar Bear record shop, said: "There's a lot less graffiti round here than suburban London and at least it tends to be politically minded rather just than pointless tagging.

"Some mornings on the way into work I have to step over regurgitated kebabs, but the one thing Cowley Road has got is a terrific smell.

"I think it should feature in a survey of the top 10 best-smelling roads in the country."

In spite of criticism improvements have been seen in the area.

Manzil Gardens -- once dubbed the 'heroin capital' of Oxfordshire and a regular haunt for drunks and drug pushers -- has undergone a transformation in a bid to drive out crime and attract back the community.

New trees, paving stones, play equipment, seats and landscaped gardens form part of a £50,000 facelift.

Jonathan Crawford, assistant editor of Five Live's breakfast show, said: "Cowley Road has come up more times than most -- it seems to have struck a real chord."

High Streets in places like Swansea, Crewe, Wigan and Brighouse are also in line for the wooden spoon.

Councillor Craig Simmons, who represents St Mary's ward for the Green Party, said: "Cowley Road is certainly in need of improvement and seems to have got worse in the past couple of years, but I wouldn't rank it as one of Britain's shabbiest."