GARDENERS have taken responsibility for a growing mound of rubbish visible from a main road.

Drivers passing through Abingdon Road in Oxford may have spotted an impressive pile of waste at Cowmead Allotments, which appeared a few weeks ago.

The allotments’ lettings secretary Faith Phipps wanted to reassure neighbours that the mess had not been fly-tipped, but was part of a spring clean blitz by allotment owners.

Abingdon Road resident Mrs Phipps said: “We are clearing the plots - this is an amnesty for rubbish. We are having a grand clear-out this year.

“People have brought stuff from their plots to put on the pile, you wouldn’t believe what people find.

“The allotments are really improving and people are much happier. The committee we have got is very good.”

The 71-year-old said several people had asked if the rubbish was caused by fly-tippers - especially with the so-called fly-tip ‘super dump’ at nearby Redbridge Hollow, which appeared on the Oxford Mail’s front page yesterday.

Mrs Phipps said there are 140 plots, most of which are filled and thriving despite suffering floods in 2014.

She said: “I live on a main road so it’s nice to have somewhere green and quiet to go, and it’s nice to have the company.”

She expected the rubbish to be cleared within two weeks.