Pope, of Durham, (HAS, June 15) which extorted the people of Darlington not to knock wheelie bins until they had tried them.

Disabled people don’t have to have a wheelie bin service in their town to experience the problems these things cause when out on the pavement.

As a wheelchair user I am not alone in encountering wheelie bins obstructing the pavements in other towns.

I sometimes have to come off perfectly good pavements and travel on the road.

I am reliably informed that a similar problem exists for people who have a visual impairment.

While wheelie bins might be the perfect solution for some, we live in an environment that wasn’t designed for them and many areas can’t cater for them without bringing problems for many people.

Darlington Borough Council says we need them for the health and safety of bin men but what of the health and safety of people forced off the pavement onto the busy roads?

Gordon Pybus, Darlington Association on Disability.

D METCALFE complains that the brown recycling bin that he has just isn’t large enough, or emptied often enough, to cope with his hedge cuttings and the grass cuttings from his “fairly large garden” (HAS, June 5).

He is asking what he can do with all of the green waste that won’t fit in the bin.

Brown bins haven’t been around forever – so what did he do before they were provided?

Why doesn’t he do what everyone else seems to do and bag it up and take it to the local tip, where skips are provided especially for such waste.

I’m the first to take a pop at the Council where they deserve it, but on this occasion I can only praise them for the great service they provide. D Metcalfe needs to get in the real world.

Does he really want someone to tell him where to put his rubbish?

I guess the Editor wouldn’t print my suggestion.

John Watson, Durham.