New bins service well worth money

He states that "If many of the borough's residents do not recycle with a large bin, the back streets are going to be overflowing with rubbish with new smaller bins."

Perhaps it is Mr Madigan who has not done his homework, as a 140 litre bin collected weekly amounts to 280 litres of non-recyclable waste collected per fortnight, as distinct from 240 litres under the current system.

How this equates to an increase in fly-tipping and waste in back streets is beyond me.

No doubt Mr Madigan would counter that this will result in an increase in landfill. The point here is that residents will not create extra waste simply to fill the extra 40 litres of non-recyclable waste space .

The waste is already being created, it is simply that facilities for disposal have not been available under the previous Labour council's, no doubt well-intentioned but ill-conceived, waste collection scheme.

It is obvious therefore, that the new collection scheme will, in fact, result in a reduction in the amount of waste being disposed of illicitly and illegally.

Another benefit of the new system, as proposed by the coalition, is that nappies, food waste and other organic items of waste will not sit in the bottom of a bin for up to 14 days.

The rats and maggots may not have reached Mr Madigan's home, but I can assure him they have been thriving in most other areas of Blackburn since the introduction of fortnightly collections.

Whilst I fully appreciate the need to be environmentally aware, I would argue that public health concerns should also be amongst the council's priorities.

With regard to Mr Madigan's protestation over the £1.7million cost of new bins - last figure I heard was £900,000 - I hardly think that the right-minded citizens of Blackburn will object to a one-off cost of just over £10 per head to ensure a much more hygienic refuse collection system than the one provided by the previous Labour council.

GUY H HOWARD, Whalley Old Road, Sunny Bower, Blackburn.