Confusion over land ownership is delaying the clean-up of an Oxford stream, residents claim.

Dumped trolleys at Boundary Brook

It is believed part of land surrounding Headington's Boundary Brook - a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a wildlife corridor - belongs to Oxford City Council and part to the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust.

The brook runs between Old Road and Roosevelt Drive, alongside the Park Hospital, then south of Roosevelt Drive, alongside the Churchill Hospital.

Auriol Hamer, of Highfields Residents' Association, told Oxford City Council's north east area committee that one of the problems was litter dropped by builders working on Oxford University's new Centre for the Study of Infectious Diseases.

She said: "The whole area is absolutely disgusting."

Committee members agreed to contact the NHS trust to plan a joint clean-up.

Trust spokesman Elika Saedi said: "We are already working closely with our city council colleagues to resolve the current problems, and will make every effort to clean up the area as soon as possible."

University spokesman Ruth Collier said: "We will pass the complaint on to our contractors. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused the residents of Headington."