J MOORLEY, who has taken up cycling during the lockdown, has noticed the amount of litter “suddenly appearing”, and suggests that this may be because councils are emptying street waste bins less frequently in the letter headed “Waste disposal” (HAS, May 2).

I have been cycling regularly around Durham’s minor roads and cycle paths for many years, and I have noticed the opposite. With the closure of household waste centres, there has been a huge increase in fly-tipping, but general littering seems to have decreased dramatically. In my neighbourhood, this is probably because most of the nearby fast-food takeaway outlets are now closed.

I don’t think that littering on roadside verges has anything to do with how often councils are emptying waste bins.

There are some people who always throw their rubbish out of their car windows. They do this because they are irresponsible, ignorant fools.

Not only do they pollute and disfigure the environment, they do not have the intelligence to realise that they are not just throwing away their rubbish – they are throwing away their own money too. It is estimated that around 30 million tonnes of litter is dropped every year in the UK, costing local authorities almost a billion pounds a year to pick up.

All of us, including the litter-droppers, pay for this through our council taxes.

What kind of imbecile throws rubbish on the ground, and then pays someone else to pick it up for them?

They may as well throw their money out of their car windows. At least the hard-working council litter-pickers would get a tip.

Pete Winstanley, Durham.