THE vice chairman of the Local Government Association said recently “councils only issue fines as a last resort against people who leave unsightly rubbish creating a blight on their neighbourhoods” (Echo, May 30).

Can I therefore suggest that Durham County Council fines itself for some of the worst offences of blighting our neighbourhoods we have ever witnessed.

Rows of unsightly wheelie bins now litter the front of houses all over the county and fly-tipping is on the increase partly because of the council’s inability to collect the rubbish it is supposed to.

My 87-year-old mother-in-law, who lives in Carrville, has not had her household waste collected for three weeks despite calls to the council’s officers who always say that the problem will not happen again.

My 83-year-old disabled mother, in Spennymoor, was told her bin could not be emptied because there was some loose rubbish in it. He told her to retrieve the contents at the bottom of the bin herself.

Time to dispose of our rubbish council?

Name and address supplied.