Dry weather has helped cut the amount of rubbish produced in Oxfordshire over the past 12 months.

Rubbish levels grew by 20 per cent since 1997 but in 2003 dropped by two per cent, from 300,800 tonnes in 2002 to 295,600.

County council recycling managers have been studying the amount of waste produced in relation to temperature and rainfall. They say the amount of dry weather the county experienced in 2003 led to the reduction in the amount of rubbish produced.

Adam Symons, the council's head of waste management, said: "We have put a huge amount of effort and resources into slowing the growth in rubbish, so we are delighted with the results this year.

"We know we cannot be complacent because next year might be warm and wet.

"However, we know that this year has also been very dry.

"So we expect that people have been cutting the lawn less and throwing out less garden rubbish -- plants have just stopped growing as much this year."

Residents in Oxfordshire produce less rubbish than the national average and the council hopes that success is partly due to their efforts.

Anne Purse, executive member for waste management, said: "We are confident that we can work with residents to achieve more."