Environmental health workers will spend this weekend clearing a 'hell hole' in Oxford city centre of hypodermic needles, human faeces and other high-risk waste.

The city council has been forced to act because the area has become a public health hazard. The land around the closed-down Wharf House pub, in Butterwyke Place, St Ebbe's, is privately owned, but the mess has prompted so many complaints environmental health officers have been forced to move in.

A senior council source said the work would cost "well over £1,000" because of the specialist equipment required to clear and dispose of the waste. The site has recently been sold and Land Registry data is out of date, so council officers are still trying to track down the owners.

Ordinarily, a clean-up notice would be served on the landowner, demanding the site be cleared within 48 hours.

Carfax ward councillor Paul Sargent said: "In polite terms, there's a mixture of burst bags of rotting rubbish, old fridge freezers, mattresses and paraphernalia from drug taking and in the heat it reeked. I recognise council workers are hampered by legislation and are doing their level best to cut through the red tape.

"But this doesn't help the residents, who are living in a hell-hole. It's important the council acts quickly to protect the health and welfare of vulnerable residents."

The area around the Wharf House is a well-known haunt for the city's homeless.

Since the pub has been empty it has become a magnet for rubbish dumping and antisocial behaviour.

Members of the City Works team were due to start clearing graffiti from walls today.

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith wrote to the Town Hall demanding action over the mess.

Yesterday he said: "I feel someone ought to be prosecuted over this. This is a health hazard, a total eyesore. It is causing serious problems to neighbouring residents, who reported to me that it attracts drug and alcohol abusers.

"No-one should have to put up with this.

"It needs clearing up straight away and a gate or fence putting in to stop it happening again.

"I have also asked the council if they can prosecute those responsible. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with this. Residents told me that they have reported the problems here to the council, but nothing has been done."

A council spokesman said: "The area involved is private property. However, on this occasion we will be clearing the area as part of our commitment of working to keep Oxford clean."