Walls around the Kidlington superstore in Oxford Road have been sprayed with graffiti, while litter is being left strewn over the floor and shrubs are left uncut.

Kidlington district and town councillor Fiona Mawson has called on Sainsbury’s to take “more pride” in the appearance of the area.

She has accused supermarket bosses of “relying on the council to clean up for them”.

Fiona Mawson at the Kidlington Sainsbury’s (Image: Ian Middleton)

A plastic bag left in a tree at Sainsbury’s (Image: Ian Middleton)

In a recent meeting, Ms Mawson heard that Gosford and Water Eaton Parish Council has been paying to trim hedges and litter pick in the alley adjacent to the store’s car park which is within the parish even though it is commonly referred to as the Kidlington store.

Sainsbury’s previously had to apologise after volunteers, including Green councillor Ian Middleton, collected plastic bags and other pieces of litter covering paths, trees and alleyways surrounding the Kidlington store in 2020.

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Ms Mawson, who said she often takes part in litter picks in the area, has attempted to contact the store to ask for another clean-up but has been unable to get a satisfactory reply.

She said: “I’ve received numerous reports from local residents about the state of this area and have attempted to engage with Sainsbury’s about it, but they don’t seem to be interested.

“I understand that the local parish council has also tried to get the store to take responsibility and clean up the area but they’ve had a similar response.

“It’s outrageous that huge companies like these are seemingly perfectly happy for local taxpayers to foot the bill for maintaining their store estate.

Volunteers had previously tidied up the area around the Sainsbury’s Kidlington superstore (Image: Ian Middleton)

Volunteers had previously tidied up the area around the Sainsbury’s Kidlington superstore (Image: Ian Middleton)

“They are also relying on the good will of local volunteer litter-pickers to do the their jobs for them.

“Whilst I appreciate that things like littering and graffiti are out of the control of the store management, it is their property and they should be taking more care of it.

“This lack of maintenance reflects poorly on Sainsbury’s and suggests they don’t take their responsibility to the community that they rely on for custom seriously.

“As a former high street retailer myself, I know how important the state of your storefront is and I’d suggest that a company the size of Sainsbury’s should take a similar approach and clean-up their act, rather than relying on hard pressed local councils and volunteers to do it for them.”

Sainsbury’s has been approached for a response.

The latest mess in Kidlington comes after the Bicester superstore in Pioneer Square was under fire for the increasingly poor condition, prompting a petition to be started to get the chief executive to visit.

Benjamin Thompson, previously of Coombe Hill Crescent, Thame, was sentenced at Oxfordshire Crown Court for three breaches of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

The court heard the 32-year-old pleaded guilty to the offences which were committed on January 9.

Thompson was made the subject of the order in January last year when he was given a suspended sentence for six counts of possession of an indecent images of children and one count of possession of a prohibitive image of a child.

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On the new offences Sandra Beck, prosecuting, told the court that Thompson’s offender manager had gone through the conditions of the SHPO with him.

The barrister said: “He knew he couldn’t delete history from his phone. He had used up all the storage on his phone in two months.”

The three breaches of the order were deleting apps and internet history, using online aliases and accessing X and an AI chatroom app called Chai Research.

Ms Beck said: “He was trying to wean himself off his addiction to child pornography by using AI chatrooms.

“The order had been explained to him on a number of occasions.”

Gareth James, mitigating, said: “He struggles to retain information.

“This didn’t cause a serious risk of harm or distress. He realises he should not have been behaving in this way.

“He needs rehabilitative work.”

Thompson was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

He must also complete 15 rehabilitation activity days and pay costs of £150.

The Judge said: “There will be no further charges.”

Scammers have been using information about missing pets posted online to trick heartbroken owners into paying vast sums of money for things like made up vet surgeries.

After monitoring vulnerable pet owners using social media posts, posters and online adverts for lost animals, the scammers will contact owners pretending to be veterinary staff.

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The callers will pretend the pet has been found, but say it is seriously injured and requires urgent surgery, pressuring the owner into paying a large vet bill over the phone before they can be reunited.

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: “We’ve been made aware of this particularly heartless scam affecting people who are advertising their missing pets.

FILE PHOTO. Police have issued a warning (Image: TVP)

“This is a cruel tactic that preys on the emotional distress and love people have for their pets.”

Police advised that people never make payments over the phone to caller who has contacted them unexpectedly, and to verify any claims made independently, for example, by contacting the vet surgery they claim to be from using a trusted phone number.

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The force also advises that people should ‘be wary’ of pressure tactics, like being rushed into making a payment, ask for proof from any caller and never share personal or financial details with unknown callers.

Any instances of fraud or a suspected scam should be reported to Action Fraud.

The police added: “Scammers are exploiting people at their most vulnerable – let’s not give them the opportunity.”