WILTSHIRE Council has banned any further placing of public rubbish bins and this concerns me, especially when I see those few existing bins, both full and overflowing, not being emptied.

I have seen more than one ordinary citizen clearing rubbish, discarded in many areas by those who are lazy and uncaring enough not to stop discarding paper, plastic and tins in the streets. These citizens provide their own pick-up tools and container bags to remove the rubbish and they don’t get paid either. I also know very well that rubbish is not only discarded in towns in Wiltshire; it is often discarded in the countryside, which forces farmers to remove it at their own expense.

My view is that the council should start placing new bins, and replacing damaged bins, and provide staff with the power to fine those who are caught discarding rubbish in the towns and not just the centres. I would not be at all upset if this preventive action against litterbugs had to raise the amount of council tax that I pay, provided it was done effectively.

Incidentally, as a youngster in the 1940s I was not allowed to eat in the street and was certainly not permitted to litter.

JIM BELK Chippenham