LITTER-PICKERS collected dozens of bags of trash dumped at the Oasis site.

Josie Lewis and Ben Bell, of Plastic Free Swindon, spent their Sunday picking up plastic bottles, glass, wrappers, and other rubbish that had been left at the back of the closed-down leisure centre.

Josie believes the litter built up over many years, as Plastic Free Swindon has spent a number of days over the last four months trying to keep it tidy.

She told the Adver: “The state of the Oasis was brought to my attention by Ben. He goes out litter picking with Plastic Free Swindon. He told me it was disgusting, so I decided to help.

“It’s not all recent rubbish. We could tell some of it had probably been there for years. Seven Capital, which leases the centre hasn’t been maintaining it. It’s been totally neglected.

“There’s rubbish buried in the hedgerows, broken glass, there’s a big dip in the ground with a wooden panel over it. It’s disgraceful, abuse of responsibility. They haven’t produced a clean and safe environment for the public.

“I found two trees which were planted to commemorate colleagues and friends of the Oasis.

"To neglect the area where their commemorations are is just disrespectful.”

Josie and Plastic Free Swindon plan to keep going back to the centre until all the rubbish is cleared.

Labour borough councillor Jim Robbins said: “It is disappointing to see the pictures showing the rubbish and very sad to see the plaques commemorating those who have worked at the Oasis not being treated with the respect that they deserve.

"Swindon deserves better than to see another iconic building going the same way as the Locarno and the Mechanics’ Institution.”

A Swindon Borough Council spokesperson said: “We are working with Seven Capital to mitigate the impact of ongoing anti-social behaviour at the Oasis site. The dumped rubbish has now been cleared by council officers and the site will be monitored closely in the future, and hopefully, the use of the site for police dog training will help to reduce the level of activity.

“As always we would urge people to keep their rubbish with them until they reach home or an empty bin.

"Those looking to fly-tip will face the consequences if they are found out.”

Seven Capital was contacted for comment.