THE city’s residents have been called ‘top-notch recyclers’ after it was revealed they reduced the amount of rubbish thrown away by the weight of 137 buses.

Total rubbish thrown away dropped by more than 1700 tonnes – eight per cent – in the financial year up to April compared with the previous year.

Each household threw away on average 382kg of rubbish – down from 409kg the previous year.

This is an average 6.5 per cent reduction per house.

The city council’s board member for a Clean and Green Oxford, John Tanner, said: “Oxford residents are top-notch recyclers and waste-reducers.

“A big thank-you to everyone for reducing, reusing and recycling.

“It saves taxpayers’ money, it’s good for the environment and you can win prizes through the city’s blue bin recycling league.”

The Oxford City Council figures also showed that materials collected in blue bins, food caddies and brown bins amounted to more than 21,000 tonnes, an increase of five per cent.

In October 2015 the council launched a recycling competition in which communities competed against each other for cash prizes.

Each month those from the winning area – of which there are eight – vote for a charity or community group to receive £400.

Two households in the area are then drawn from a hat to win a prize of at least £30.

For more information on the competition go to oxford.gov.uk/info/20202/blue_bin_recycling_league