REGARDING your article on the changes to the refuse collection service in Blackburn (September 16), I wholeheartedly agree with Coun Paul Browne's criticism.

Our street's collection day has been changed from Monday to Friday.

Thus, on Friday, August 30, with 11 days' rubbish still not having been collected by 4pm, I rang the refuse collection department to ask if the bin men were coming that day or not. The man who answered eventually was both unhelpful and downright obnoxious over my complaint.

So, in response to Coun Maureen Bateson's plea for us to be more patient and to contact the operations department if we have problems, I suggest a more polite person with a better telephone manner be employed as I am sure they are going to be flooded with complaints.

Please, let's get back to our old collection days. The week after it was 5.55pm before our bins were emptied.

A BARNES (Mrs), New Wellington Street, Mill Hill, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.