I refer to John MacAllister's letter about recycling and rubbish collection in the Cherwell district (Oxford Mail, December 27) .

Cherwell District Council was under threat of financial penalties from the Government on a directive from the EU if it did not reduce the use of landfill sites for the disposal of domestic and industrial waste.

If it had taken no action, the penalties would have been passed on to council taxpayers.

How can Mr MacAllister pass an opinion when he has not yet had the opportunity to participate in the scheme?

Generally, it is a great success. It needs only a small commitment from every household for it to work.

I have paid for a blue wheelie bin, as have a number of my neighbours.

I decided that £20 for the blue bin would save me the cost of visits to the chiropractor, the probable result from carrying the two blue boxes to the kerbside.

Before the blue bin arrived, a lot of waste that we generated was tossed into the green bin without thinking.

The green bin was nearly always full, if not overflowing on collection day. It is not the case now.

It needs only a couple of seconds to flatten a can, plastic bottle or cardboard box.

Two blue boxes may fit the bill of most families, without the need of a second green or a blue wheelie bin.

Where I am at odds with Cherwell is the two weekly collection of the brown bins in the winter.

Is it not possible from the end of November to the beginning of March to run a dial-up collection service, as with larger items for waste disposal, rather than two-week service whether you need it or not? Or make brown bin collections in those months every four weeks?

The number of brown bins on the kerb on the last collection day in Begbroke could be counted on the fingers of two hands.

KEN JONES

Begbroke