WE are now being told the council is to employ more people for cleaning up the litter left in our streets and parks.

It is small wonder our council tax is rising year upon year.

Everyone knows who the culprits are, those creating the mess in which we all have to live.

I will say it again - it is not the council which is at fault, it is the young who spend their time buying chocolate and chips and then leaving the wrappers on the floor.

I have relations who visit from London and the Home Counties who thought they were hard done by in the litter world until they visited this town. I was disgusted to take them around for fear of what they would see.

Our young population have no respect for their environment.

They are obviously lacking something in the schools education system which us clever grown-ups have devised.

We teach them to use a computer, add up, read perhaps, even write a bit, but we do not teach them how much it costs to clean up their mess.

A very easy way to start would be to take out classes once a week with big bags, gloves and wellies, fill the bags and take them to the council depot.

For each bag they could receive a sum of money from the council, which would benefit school funds and save the council a certain amount of work.

I feel sure that once they have experienced what council staff have to put up with, they might think again about discarding chocolate wrappers, condoms, magazines, broken bottles and fish and chip papers.

Having been to a few European countries, I must say that so far, I have not seen anywhere as litter strewn as Redditch.

What are we doing wrong? Are there not bylaws that have penalties for dropping litter and rubbish?

And how many times has the council taken someone to court for that reason?

Litter is no different to dog mess. It can cause just as much disease and pain to children and animals.

A Lewis

Huntington Close

Winyates