I FELT it would be useful to let residents know about how the council is responding to the extra pressures on our bins and waste collection systems at the moment.

We normally have about 600 bins on the sea front. We have already increased this by 130 bins, with another 50 bins on order. All these need to be collected and emptied – and sometimes our crews get stuck in traffic jams too.

To put the challenge into perspective, every warm weather weekend is now like having an air festival weekend in terms of waste created. Because of this, our crews are starting at 5am to clear our beaches and parks, ready for the day. But there are still going to be bins overflowing by the end of the day because of the increase in takeaway packaging, the number of people, and the warm weather. It really is, to coin a phrase, unprecedented.

If you want to help, then please remember take a rubbish bag with you when you go to the beach and take all your waste home with you.

Processing waste at home also helps because of the different recycling bins you have available. Unfortunately, because of contamination the waste from the beach bins can’t be recycled.

All our bin crews would really value your help. Please take your rubbish home from your day out.

CLLR FELICITY RICE Middle Road, Poole