We moved to Chippenham, from Horsham in West Sussex, only four months ago but last Friday I visited the offices of North Wiltshire District Council for the second time, to complain about the amount of litter along the path through the park area between Charter Road and Avenue La Fleche.

As on the previous occasion, the situation had been exacerbated by the cutting of hedgerows, which revealed all the rubbish that had been accumulating within.

When I inquired about the schedule for routine maintenance of the area, I was told that there was none and they relied on members of the public complaining before any action was taken.

I must admit that the response to my report was virtually immediate and, as of Monday morning, the area is pristine but there is surely a case for more proactive measures.

The ideal answer is, of course, for people eating takeaway meals and drinking on the way home to take their empty containers with them but, since that is obviously a non starter, litter bins on the lamp posts bordering the path would help.

There is one, old fashioned and not 'user friendly' bin at the town end of the path but nothing after that to encourage people to be more public spirited in the disposal of their rubbish.

Another area in a similar condition is the path along the river bank leading towards Monkton Park, where there are no bins but plenty of rubbish beside the path.

I agree that some people will always just discard their empties wherever they happen to be, but the provision of more bins must be a step in the right direction.

Perhaps a slogan on the lines of 'Don't Bung it Bin it' might be appropriate.

I P Dunbar

Chippenham