YOUNG people who gather on Wallingford’s riverbank say they are not to blame for littering or disorder at the beauty spot.

The weekend before last, litter bins were burnt out and smashed bottles and cans left near Wallingford Bridge, close to where new moorings are being built to attract tourists to the town.

But young people who enjoy al-fresco drinking by the river told The Herald they neither left their rubbish behind nor caused problems for other river users, and town residents should not be worried about their behaviour.

Jason Pearce, 23, of Station Road, Cholsey, said the group of 18- to 25-year-olds even stepped in to ensure younger teenagers did not cause problems. He said: “We are school friends, college friends and friends of friends who go to the same pubs and on the same nights out.

“We are all Wallingford born and bred.

“There is a lot of community spirit. We love Wallingford and we are closely knitted together because it is our home town.

“We do not like it if people are causing trouble and we don’t know who they are.

“Nobody has got anything to worry about. If we are causing trouble, nobody should be afraid to come and ask us to turn it down a bit. They are genuinely not going to get any abuse.”

Mr Pearce said that on Saturday, April 16, the group collected all its rubbish and piled it together for collection as they left the site, but somebody else set fire to it later that evening.

He said the bins were inadequate and more should be installed to ensure the area was kept litter-free.

He added: “We even collected other people’s rubbish from the area, especially that left by much younger children. There was a large group of us down there, and people think we are responsible for the mess. Some of us have taken that personally.

“We left our rubbish where the bin had been, but younger teenagers set fire to it after we left.”

He said that last Sunday, the group of friends stopped teenagers they saw smashing bottles opposite the bridge, and made them pick up their rubbish before they left.

The mayor of Wallingford, Dee Cripps, said she had continued to receive complaints about behaviour at the riverside this week, including a report of young men urinating by the bridge while children as young as ten were playing nearby.

She said: “I think young people enjoying the river should be positively encouraged. We have got a lovely riverside.

“We want people to go there and enjoy the facilities, as long as they respect other people’s places of enjoyment too.”