THE tourists are going home, the children are back in school, the leaves are falling, and we are confronted by litter and the filth in our streets. Why is the city so badly kept?

I counted seven litter bins in Duncombe Place when I last looked, but between Monkgate and the Grange on Huntington Road there is not one. On the Sustrans bike path, there is one per mile.

With nowhere to put their litter, people chuck it aside as they walk. And without bins for dog ordure, we find ourselves carrying the stuff for miles - no wonder cleaning up after dogs isn't popular.

And the River Foss - sad river, choked with plastic, supermarket trolleys, kids' bikes, planks, wire... it's a wonder wildfowl don't choke to death regularly instead of occasionally. The willows overhanging it discard huge branches which should have been pruned back years ago.

When I ask, by letter, telephone, or email, for some cleaning up and regular supervision, I'm sympathised with and referred to yet another official or department. Why isn't clean-up a routine operation? This should be a proud and beautiful city worthy of its citizens past and present, not a slum for the second millennium.

Mairi McCormick,

Huntington Road,

York.

Updated: 12:18 Wednesday, September 26, 2001