TRADERS in Oxford’s Cowley Road have spoken out against the state of the street, describing it as paved with “grease, vomit and litter”.

They want more to be done to clean it up.

Oxford City Council — amid its citywide clean-up Cleaner, Greener campaign — has hit back, saying it is doing its best to combat the problem and that traders themselves need to pull their weight.

Clearly an appeal needs to go out to both local residents and visitors to East Oxford to help keep it clean.

If takeaway rubbish and cigarette butts were disposed of properly, there wouldn’t be much of a problem in the first place, and much less of a clean-up bill to boot.

Few people want Cowley Road to resemble a pristine, suburban street, but clearly it need not look like a dump, either.

Traders can do their bit and the council, which is already sweeping the street and cleaning out its bins on a daily basis, needs to step up its campaign to dissuade litterbugs.

However, if we want the council to do more cleaning, we are going to have to pay for it.