Sir - I was very distressed to read Reg Little's report last week that Oxford City Council is unwilling to keep the bypass clear of litter because they think it's too expensive.

What this implies is that we are all going to have to stand by and watch as the approaches to Oxford grow into permanent rubbish tips. And what applies to the bypass applies equally to roads throughout the Oxfordshire countryside.

The problem of litter outside of city centres is a national one and it's growing by the day. It's not just a matter of tidiness. It's a matter of how we care for our environment and for public space. And at the moment it seems that we care considerably less than, for example, the Americans, the French, and the (Southern) Irish. It might well be that local government can't solve the problem single-handedly. If that's so, then our local leaders need to galvanise the rest of us - individual citizens, civil associations, businesses, schools, police, and the local press - into concerted action. This year's OxClean campaign has shown that there's a lot of goodwill out there. But we need more than an annual spring-clean. We need a general change of behaviour. Dumping rubbish on the roadside needs to become shameful.

Nigel Biggar, Christ Church, Oxford