CLLR John Barry (Letters, last week) obviously lives in a strange Green' la-la-land which I do not recognise, where the grass is green, the skies are blue and life is beautiful all the time.

Because where I live the community support officers don't work after 8pm.

And they are certainly not there to dispense on-the-spot fines in the early hours - the time when cars are damaged, bottles smashed and food cartons discarded all over the place.

I also think that charging people for taking away their bulky household items is wrong. Most of us already pay £1,000 or more in council tax and surely the fact that collections are up from 9,000 a few years ago to 15,000 now is a good thing - it means people are being more responsible and calling the council to get waste collected rather than fly-tipping it.

It is also interesting to note that Cllr Barry thinks £15 is a modest' amount to pay for this service - which we are told costs £100,000 more than the old one. Why?

Why can't the recycling organisation Furniture Matters self-finance the scheme by re0using reselling or recycling items collected for cash?

It seems to me these charges are dictatorial and morally wrong. The council should, for once, improve the service it gives and save taxpayers some money.

Cllr Barry refers in his letter to plans to name and shame' the vandals and litter louts. I think we should do the same to people who dream up these daft new ideas.

I C James, Skerton.