I AM writing in response to A. Cleaner (Ring and Complain, Letters, March 11) in which the writer claims the borough's streets are awash with litter and that the council doesn't care.

The council is working hard to tackle the problem of litter. In fact, since April 2004 we have increased the number of street cleansing staff and provided additional mechanical resources to improve the appearance of the borough.

In addition, this council has carried out numerous "deep" cleans - a good example of which was recently demonstrated at the junction of Wash Lane and Heap Bridge, Bury.

In that operation, through its Bury East Street Team, the council staged a major clean-up of an area known locally as The Dingle. Several tonnes of litter and fly-tipped material was removed over several days but the area was soon covered again with litter and larger items. Unfortunately, people's habits die hard and we cannot win the battle against litter on our own.

However, this council is committed to improving the environment and we are now actively looking at introducing enforcement against those caught dropping litter dropping.

COUNCILLOR

MIKE CONNOLLY,

Executive member for

environment & transport,

Bury Council.