FOUR hundred litter pickers are being made available to community groups by the organisers of the annual Oxford spring clean.

OxClean is already gearing up for the next city-wide clean up which will take place on March 5 and 6.

And it is to use a tidy sum of £2,500 that it secured from the Oxfordshire Community Foundation to ensure local groups are properly equipped, well in advance of next year’s big clean-up. Rosamund Weatherall, chair of the OxClean Steering Group, said: “We will be able to offer up to five free quality Streetmaster litter pickers to local community groups who register for Spring Clean 2010 before the end of December.

“Initially, we will be giving priority to groups who took part this year and are registering again.

“After that we will be offering the litter pickers to people registering for the first time on a first come, first served basis.”

In March, up to 1,500 volunteers took part in a weekend litter blitz for the great Oxford spring clean, with more than 100 local groups taking to Oxford’s streets, parks, play areas, car parks, cycle tracks and allotments.

The OxClean event is organised by Oxford Civic Society, with The Oxford Times among its sponsors.

To register and for further information go to oxclean.org.uk