FIFTEEN years ago we had an efficient and effective waste removal system. Every Monday morning regular as clockwork our bin bags were removed.

Later a follow-up wagon' arrived to remove bulky items that had been left for collection and within an hour a mechanical road sweeper had cleaned both the alley and the pavements. By 11am on Monday our streets and alleys were as clean as they could reasonably be.

But over the years we have been forced into squalor not by the usual supects' of population density, low quality housing, and transient population but by a waste system which has degene-rated into an expensive farce.

Recently I rang City Contract Services to complain about dumping and even offered photos in support of a possible prosecution. To the best of my knowledge no action was taken.

Routine pavement, alley, and road sweeping has been replaced by the random appearance of a man with a trolley. His perpetual task is to collect the litter blown from the alleys, litter that should have cleared by a road sweeper when the bags were removed.

A phantom road sweeper does appear about every two or three weeks and bin wagons appear to trawl the streets ridiculously early on a Monday. Their aim is to cherry pick a few bin bags in order to justify their existence.

So, instead of the regular and effective service once provided, CCS has developed a culture that allows and encourages perpetual dumping and bin men won't even consider removing any item that is not within a bin bag.

Recently I asked for a bed and a suite to be removed. I was told it could take 28 days. Do I leave it in the front garden or take a month off work? The alternative is to pay for a skip and I don't mind that but in addition to the basic cost I will have to pay a £30 council charge for having it roadside for a few hours.

There is even talk of charging £20 for basic furniture removals. Yet if I put my suite in the alley and complain about dumping, it will be removed within a day. There is something sadly wrong in a system that actively encourages dumping.

It is time that CCS was held to account? I am not asking for months of council sponsored debate but for an immediate review of the contract'' that has allowed City Contract Services' to force us into squalor.

What will it take for action to be taken against the incom-petents who are legally responsible for our environment. A death resulting from arson?

SH Singleton, Morecambe.