I HAVE recently had the pleasure of a visit from my six-year-old granddaughter and her father and was somewhat surprised at the comments she made about the Dorset countryside.

As they both reside in Hong Kong my granddaughter was thrilled with the fresh clean air, clear blue skies, and being able to see the moon and stars - Hong Kong being polluted most of the time, so all she sees is an overcast sky.

Rubbish-wise it is a fairly clean city so she was upset at the rubbish left on the verges, roads etc,, wondering why we do not clear up the rubbish, or that a fine or something similar is not used to the perpetrators.

To be honest I had no answer for her, nor could I fully explain why people do not smile or talk to each other or that motorists are aggressive to other drivers.

We recently undertook a clean-up as part of the Queen’s ninetieth birthday celebrations, at the time I was vocal against the efforts of the general public as I felt, and still do, time proving me right.

Unless the council undertakes to acknowledge that Dorchester has a litter problem and is prepared to take action by fines, providing more rubbish bins and actively educating the perpetrators plus taking the dumping of litter seriously, things will only get worse.

If we care to open our eyes we are back to square one on the rubbish front.

The only change being that council officers have awarded themselves a pay award bigger in some cases that most council workers take home salaries, but I see no change in working practises With a few people trying to keep the areas they live in clean and tidy, like the mature woman in the Grove area of Dorchester picking up rubbish.

What has to happen for rubbish to be taken seriously, broken bottles strewn on the road, citizens injured?

My visitors from Canada and Hong Kong were less than impressed with what they called Dirty Dorchester.

Heather Robinson

Bridport Road

Dorchester