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Over the Christmas period we also found we had a full month to wait for Premium Waste Management to clear our green boxes. We thought this was a one-off, but no, because recently their staff have again refused to empty green boxes owing to the weather. We will once again have a full month for clearance.

The weather did not prevent the refuse collectors, who were on time and should be congratulated for their efficiency.

When one considers the exorbitant council tax we pay - £30 weekly in my case - we are expected to wash all glass and tins, put rubbish boxes out, then store them wet through back into the garage. All this is above a joke and if recycling is required then the council has to reconsider whether or not to continue using PWM.

E Cherry, Elvet Moor

Highway 'horror'

I READ with horror in the Advertiser that Durham County Council's Highways Department is proposing taking away highway at overloaded places in Durham City and give it over to bus lanes.

In 25 years there has been no addition to the city's roads while the requirement for vehicle usage has increased several fold. Taxes are endlessly levied against the motorist who has seen no road in return. We have seen promises and proposed northern and western bypasses which have not been built while schemes costing hundreds of thousands of pounds in bureaucratic salaries have been flushed away.

Generally roads have been crippled with 'build-outs', chicanes and refuges, straight roads turned into slaloms and three-lane roads have been shrunk into two lanes with paint hatching tarmac out of bounds. Vast amounts of money have been spent on raised kerbs at bus stops, pelican crossings placed uselessly next to pedestrian bridges, footpaths re-badged as cycle lanes and a gruesome parking system to 'ease parking' that has done exactly the opposite. It appears every effort has been made to throw away resources and tinkering with the roads has made things worse.

The roads are already under-provided, causing tailbacks from Gilesgate to Framwellgate. Any further road taken out of use to the majority motoring public will simply create gridlock. I fear the disincentive to industry over transport delays and increased costs causes industry to leave this area.

Buses cater for a minority and are usually running near empty. They do not go where I need to go when I need to go, are rarely on time, do not interconnect and I cannot carry what I need. Routes are being sliced all the time.

I expect the vast majority would need to give up their car only for a taxi to manage their daily lives.

M R Griffin, Durham City

Bus lanes welcome

I AGREE we do not want more queues and congestion on the roads. That is why the proposed bus lanes should go ahead. People who live and work within Durham city should be more socially responsible and not drive to work. Catching a bus, walking or cycling are all alternatives that would ease congestion by taking cars off the roads.

The health benefits to individuals exercising while running for a bus should also not be ignored. Imagine how convenient catching a bus could become if the bus was not caught in traffic?

I think the bus lanes in and around Durham should be welcomed and extended. As soon as buses are given priority at the many bottlenecks in Durham the better.

More people will use the bus service when it becomes the quickest and easiest way to travel to work. The council should also put a levy on any business parking spaces to further entice car users to leave their automobiles at home.

Obviously there are people out there who need their cars for work and to them I would say, bear with the motorists who do not need their cars for work. Hopefully they will soon change their ways.

J Collins, Durham.

No control

DRYBURN View, Framwellgate Moor, has double yellow lines on both sides of the road, and notices saying no parking at any time.

Why is it that the Arriva buses can park on both sides of this road (one side does not even have a bus stop) sometimes for ten minutes? If we, the residents, park our cars there, we will be fined, but apparently the police have no control over the buses. Surely the law should be the same for everyone.

Valerie Richardson, Framwellgate Moor.