YOU report (December 5) that complaints about rubbish collections have increased considerably in recent years.

This is understandable, given the shambolic system in place.

Now that most households have two wheelie bins to cope with, why are residents expected to move them to the pavement and back again on collection days?

Refuse collectors won’t even empty bins if they are in people’s front gardens.

In the good old days (before Councillor John Tanner was put in charge of rubbish collections), dustmen used to pick up dustbins wherever they were, carry them out to empty them and bring them back afterwards. Why is this impossible with wheelie bins?

Now the wheelie bins are simply left littering the pavement, looking unsightly and posing difficulties for pedestrians.

If the bins are left empty outside for long, they are an indication to burglars that your house is empty.

I know that most of our councillors are rubbish, but can’t they think of less awkward procedures for rubbish collection? Now that John Tanner has messed up rubbish collections and closed lots of local lavatories, shouldn’t his description be changed from “member for a cleaner, greener Oxford” to “member for a dirtier, browner Oxford”?

TONY AUGARDE Carlton Road Oxford