BUSINESS people in Ashley Road, Parkstone, (Daily Echo, February 15) are right to raise the matter of litter in the high street and all credit to all who have pressed the issue so many times.

However when it is raised yet again I must say I feel very weary this perennial issue, running for whole lifetimes no less (since the 1950s’ ‘Keep Britain Tidy’) is not resolved once and for all.

Firstly, on the matter of cleansing, I must say Ashley Road standards have in my view improved hugely in the last year.

The area is cleaned thoroughly every day.

In 20 years I have never seen the parades cleaner in the mornings.

A credit to Borough of Poole and our area.

However, there is then the matter of dealing with the actual littering through the day and by far most of this is fag end and junk food littering.

On that critical point I used to think fining was the solution. But not any more. It never worked – we’ve never had ‘zero tolerance’ or anything remotely like it.

Rather the solution, I would say, is more elegant and to the point – deposits on all take-away fast-food.

Packaging and cans and bottles become of financial value. They are then returned to the retailer for discount on the next purchase.

Would we throw away £1 coins piecemeal? I don’t think so – and the same logic goes for cans, bottles and plastics, if you put a value on them.

JEFF WILLIAMS Jubilee Road, Parkstone