I NOTE with some disgust and dismay that we will soon have a reduced refuse collection service inflicted on us.

Perhaps it would be prudent to take some preparatory action.

Having recently returned to live in Kidderminster, I have been appalled by the sight of dustbins/wheelie bins left permanently on the pavements by an irresponsible minority.

These bins blow over and their contents spill out , a problem that will surely be aggravated by reduced collections.

The first stage towards a reduced collection should be to warn these anti-social people to remove their bins from the pavement after the collection, and not to put them out again until the next collection day.

An "on the spot" fine with costs backed up by a "name and shame" in the press policy would help. A system like this worked in Singapore and Hong Kong, so there is no reason to suppose it wouldn't work here.

If offenders cannot pay, they should be made to clean the streets at a rate of, say, £3 an hour, until the fine is paid off.

If the anti-social element were made to clean the streets they wouldn't be quite so keen to pollute them.

You may say that such treatment would infringe their civil liberties. Tough - they are infringing yours and mine.

They live in the community and should abide by the rules, the same as the rest of us.

If the police do not have the manpower to cope with enforcing these laws perhaps we should consider expanding the role of the traffic and neighbourhood wardens, making them into town wardens with authority to issue fines.

They could patrol parks and streets and act as litter wardens. They could also do an extremely useful job in prosecuting irresponsible dog owners who allow their animals to foul the area.

Broadwaters Park, for example, is nothing more than a gigantic dog loo.

Fines should be heavy enough to cover their costs, which would be recovered in no time, and provide additional funds which could go towards keeping community charges down.

As a spin-off we would have a town to be proud of instead of a high Council Tax potential slum and health hazard created by the anti-social element in our society and exacerbated by ill-advised reductions in our amenities.

RG HOLLAND

Broadwaters Drive

Kidderminster