I THOUGHT ‘What a load of old rubbish’ was a good headline (Oxford Mail, December 5) and very true in many cases.

Years ago the cleansing department, which in those days was in Botley Road, was run by a superintendent and inspectors to oversee the everyday working of the men regarding refuse and street cleaning.

Those days have long gone and so has the depot, but those mentioned knew how to run the system because they had many years of experience in the job.

That no longer seems to be the case and now comes under the umbrella of the so-called City Works.

Every department has lost its independence, such as drainage, highways, cleansing, parks etc and now the refuse men and sweepers are being dictated to by persons who don’t have experience on how to run such an important business as the above.

With all the complaints that there have been within the last 12 months it’s obvious there is something very wrong in the system.

A workforce should not have to take complaints from the general public while doing their work, so I call on the powers-to-be to get it right and please try and eliminate most of the problems.

COLIN SMITH, George Moore Close, Donnington, Oxford