AFTER reading your report Street of Shame (Oxford Mail, August 9), I feel I must defend the street cleaners of Oxford.

I would like to turn the table and say thank you to the city council cleaning crews, who work hard to keep our streets clean.

Yes, there are things I could criticise but you only have to stand for a few minutes and ‘people-watch’ to see just how lazy and untidy they are.

It must be an uphill struggle to keep on top of the rubbish that is just thrown down. There are plenty of bins around waiting to be used.

It seem mostly the younger generation is at fault.

Two examples I observed in just one morning.

A young person was waiting in a layby for a lift, the car arrives, he opens the back door, but, before getting in, he kicks out a plastic bottle and a brown food bag. As the car moved off, I shouted “rubbish!”. He just gave me a vacant look.

On the second occasion, a young person got off a bus, threw down his apple core and chocolate bar wrapper, while passing a bin at the bus stop.

So what chance do the street cleaners stand?

Come on people, do your bit and let’s see what a difference it can make to having cleaner streets.

Pamela Tuckwell, Rosamund Road, Wolvercote , Oxford