TO keep fit I do a lot of walking and to make it purposeful I pick up litter on the way — I call it my 'Walk 'n' Womble.'

My patch covers the area from Old Kiln Lane to Scout Road near Belmont. The usual grot spot is always Scout Road car park where it can look like a tip at the best of times. I clean it up, disposing the rubbish in the litter bin on site and have to use two other bins nearby for the overflow.

Recently these other bins were removed so I enquired from the council why? They replied that they had been 'risk assessed' and were considered unsafe due to road conditions.

Well there you go, a cash strapped council can find funds to go around risk assessing litter bins and I'm sure you and I will sleep easier in our beds knowing this. You couldn't make it up, it's like a storyline from 'Yes Minister' or even worse, an EU diktat!

I'm baffled by this especially at a time when litter and fly tipping is always being mentioned in this paper. How on earth are we going to encourage people to dispose of their litter responsibly when at the same time the council are removing bins?

The simplest solution would have been to move one or both bins on to the Scout Road car park alleviating the mounting litter problem there.

I despair, many like me are trying to do our bit to make a difference to our communities when at the same time we're impeded by the council.

D McArthur

Bolton