CAMPAIGNERS fighting to keep Oxford clean fear the city will suffer more litter problems as council cuts bite.

Volunteers for the OxClean group are concerned that less cash will be available for new initiatives to tackle rubbish, causing standards to slip.

OxClean’s Ros Weatherall said the group, which organises the city’s annual spring clean, had already met to discuss the situation.

She said Oxford City Council's Cleaner Greener campaign, launched in November 2009 and supported by the Oxford Mail, had made progress on the issue.

And Oxford was voted Britain’s cleanest city by readers of Conde Naste’s Traveller magazine this year.

But Mrs Weatherall added: “We are concerned the good work that has been done will go backwards.

“There has been an improvement in the city centre but not in sub-urban areas, and we still get an awful lot of complaints from Summertown.

“Litter-picking is expensive because it is slow and takes a lot of people. There is still a shortage of bins. They need more up in Jericho.

“I would like to see the city council doing more to stop people dropping litter in the first place.”

The man in charge of keeping Oxford clean, city councillor John Tanner, admitted that money for new initiatives would be scarce in the coming years.

The council has set out plans to cut £10m from its budget over the next four years, but Mr Tanner said street cleaning budgets had been protected.

He said: “There is no cut in street cleaning or rubbish and recycling. That is what people want. But new initiatives are going to be difficult.”

Mr Tanner did raise fears that Oxfordshire County Council’s plans to close three rubbish tips, including the Redbridge site to the public, would increase fly-tipping.

He added: “Closing Redbridge is an outrage.”

The county council is planning to open a new facility in Kidlington, but the total number of Oxfordshire waste facilities will reduce from eight to five.

County council leader Keith Mitchell said he hoped the move would not increase illegal dumping and facilities would be available in each district.

A national report, released this week by Keep Britain Tidy, echoed OxClean’s fears. It suggested the rise in littering could be linked to public spending cuts.